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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


PRESENTED  BY 


Elizabeth  Preston  Ward 

in  memory  of 
Jean  Versfelt  Preston 


Our   Little   Alaskan    Cousin 


THE 

Little  Cousin  Series 

(trade  mark) 

Each  volume  illustrated  with  six  or  more  full-page  plates  in 

tint.     Cloth,  i2mo,  with  decorative  cover, 

per  volume,  60  cents 

LIST   OF   TITLES 
By  Mary  Hazelton  Wade 

(unless  otherwise  indicated) 


Our  Little  African  Cousin 
Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon-Roulet 

Our  Little  Arabian  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Armenian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Australian  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon-Roulet 
Our  Little  Brazilian  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon-Roulet 

Our  Little  Brown  Cousin 
Our  Little  Canadian  Cousin 

By  Elizabeth  R.  MacDonald 

Our  Little  Chinese  Cousin 

By  Isaac  Taylor  Headland 

Our  Little  Cuban  Cousin 
Our  Little  Dutch  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Egyptian  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  English  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Eskimo  Cousin 
Our  Little  French  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  German  Cousin 
Our  Little  Greek  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon-Roulet 

L.  C.  PAGE    &    COMPANY 

New  England  Building,  Boston,  Mass. 


Our  Little  Hawaiian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Hindu  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Indian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Irish  Cousin 
Our  Little  Italian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Japanese  Cousin 
Our  Little  Jewish  Cousin 
Our  Little  Korean  Cousin 

By  H.  Lee  M.  Pike 

Our  Little  Mexican  Cousin 

By  Edward  C.  Butler 

Our  Little  Norwegian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Panama  Cousin 

By  H.  Lee  M.  Pike 

Our  Little  Philippine  Cousin 
Our  Little  Porto  Rican  Cousin 
Our  Little  Russian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Scotch  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Siamese  Cousin 
Our  Little  Spanish  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon-Roulet 

Our  Little  Swedish  Cousin 

By  Claire  M.  Coburn 

Our  Little  Swiss  Cousin 
Our  Little   Turkish  Cousin 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/ourlittlealaskanOOnixo 


"  KALITAN   FISHED    DILIGENTLY    BUT   CAUGHT   LITTLE." 

(See  page  3) 


SILS 


I  Our  Little  Alaskan! 


* 
* 

* 


Cousin 


Mary  F. 


By 

Nixon-Roulet 


Author  of  "  Our  Little  Spanish  Cousin" 
a  Pessimist  in  Spain"  "  Gtfrf,  J&e 
2£wg,  My  Brother"  etc. 


Illustrated 


With 


Boston 
L.  C.  Page   £r  Company 


PUBLISHERS 


.* 
* 


* 


^4*4*4*444*  4*4*4444444*4*444*444*444^ 


Copyright,  igoj 
By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 

(incorporated) 
All  rights  reserved 


Third    Impression,    May,    1909 


TO  MY  LITTLE  SON 

3fa!m  JRtfon  Ue  Koulet 


Preface 


Away  up  toward  the  frozen  north  lies  the 
great  peninsula,  which  the  United  States  bought 
from  the  Russians,  and  thus  became  responsi- 
ble for  the  native  peoples  from  whom  the  Rus- 
sians had  taken  the  land. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  people  there,  from 
Indians  to  Esquimos,  and  they  are  under  the 
American  Government,  yet  they  have  no  votes 
and  are  not  called  American  citizens. 

It  is  about  this  country  and  its  people  that 
this  little  story  is  written,  and  in  the  hope  of 
interesting  American  girls  and  boys  in  these 
very  strange  people,  their  Little  Alaskan  Cous- 
ins. 


Contents 

CHAPTER 

PAGB 

I. 

Kalitan  Tenas      .... 

I 

II. 

Around  the  Camp-fire 

12 

III. 

To  the  Glacier     .... 

.         26 

IV. 

Ted  Meets  Mr.  Bruin  . 

■         38 

V. 

A  Monster  of  the  Deep 

.         48 

VI. 

The  Island  Home  of  Kalitan 

.         60 

VII. 

Twilight  Tales  and  Totems 

7* 

VIII. 

The  Berry  Dance 

.         82 

IX. 

On  the  Way  to  Nome  . 

93 

X. 

In  the  Gold  Country    . 

108 

XI. 

Afternoon  Tea  in  an  Eglu    . 

119 

XII. 

The  Splendour  of  Saghalie  Tyee  . 

.     129 

List  of  Illustrations 


"  Kalitan  fished  diligently  but  caught    lit- 
tle "      (See  page  3)  ...  Frontispiece 
"Away  went  another  stinging  lance  "  .  -57 
"  a  group  of  people  awaiting  the  canoes  "     .      64 
Mount  Shishaldin  ......       99 

" '  Let's  watch  those  two    men.     They    have 

evidently  staked  a  claim  together  '  "     .     ii3 
"  two  funny    little  lapp  babies   he   took   to 

ride  on  a  large  reindeer  "  .  .     i34 


Our  Little  Alaskan   Cousin 


CHAPTER    I 


KALITAN   TENAS 


It  was  bitterly  cold.  Kalitan  Tenas  felt  it 
more  than  he  had  in  the  long  winter,  for  then 
it  was  still  and  calm  as  night,  and  now  the  wind 
was  blowing  straight  in  from  the  sea,  and  the 
river  was  frozen  tight. 

A  month  before,  the  ice  had  begun  to  break 
and  he  had  thought  the  cold  was  over,  and  that 
the  all  too  short  Alaskan  summer  was  at  hand. 
Now  it  was  the  first  of  May,  and  just  as  he 
had  begun  to  think  of  summer  pleasures,  lo ! 
a  storm  had  come  which  seemed  to  freeze  the 
very  marrow  of  his  bones.    However,  our  little 


2  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

Alaskan  cousin  was  used  to  cold  and  trained 
to  it,  and  would  not  dream  of  fussing  over  a 
little  snow-storm. 

Kalitan  started  out  to  fish  for  his  dinner, 
and  though  the  snow  came  down  heavily  and 
he  had  to  break  through  the  ice  to  make  a 
fishing-hole,  and  soon  the  ice  was  a  wind-swept 
plain  where  even  his  own  tracks  were  covered 
with  a  white  pall,  he  fished  steadily  on.  He 
never  dreamed  of  stopping  until  he  had  fish 
enough  for  dinner,  for,  like  most  of  his  tribe, 
he  was  persevering  and  industrious. 

Kalitan  was  a  Thlinkit,  though,  if  you  asked 
him,  he  would  say  he  was  "  Klinkit."  This  is 
a  tribe  which  has  puzzled  wise  people  for  a 
long  time,  for  the  Thlinkits  are  not  Esquimos, 
not  Indians,  not  coloured  people,  nor  whites. 
They  are  the  tribes  living  in  Southeastern 
Alaska  and  along  the  coast.  Many  think  that 
a  long,  long  time  ago,  they  came  from  Japan 
or   some   far  Eastern   country,    for   they   Iook 


Kalitan  Tenas  3 

something  like  the  Japanese,  and  their  lan- 
guage has  many  words  similar  to  Japanese  in  it. 

Perhaps,  long  years  ago,  some  shipwrecked 
Japanese  were  cast  upon  the  coast  of  Alaska, 
and,  finding  their  boats  destroyed  and  the  land 
good  to  live  in,  settled  there,  and  thus  began 
the  Thlinkit  tribes. 

The  Chilcats,  Haidahs,  and  Tsimsheans  are 
all  Thlinkits,  and  are  by  far  the  best  of  the 
brown  people  of  the  Northland.  They  are 
honest,  simple,  and  kind,  and  more  intelligent 
than  the  Indians  living  farther  north,  in  the 
colder  regions.  The  Thlinkit  coast  is  washed 
by  the  warm  current  from  the  Japan  Sea,  and 
it  is  not  much  colder  than  Chicago  or  Boston, 
though  the  winter  is  a  little  longer. 

Kalitan  fished  diligently  but  caught  little. 
He  was  warmly  clad  in  sealskin;  around  his 
neck  was  a  white  bearskin  ruff,  as  warm  as 
toast,  and  very  pretty,  too,  as  soft  and  fluffy  as 
a  lady's  boa.     On  his  feet  were  moccasins  of 


4  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

walrus  hide.  He  had  been  perhaps  an  hour 
watching  the  hole  in  the  ice,  and  knelt  there 
so  still  that  he  looked  almost  as  though  he  were 
frozen.  Indeed,  that  was  what  those  thought 
who  saw  him  there,  for  suddenly  a  dog-sledge 
came  round  the  corner  of  the  hill  and  a  loud 
halloo  greeted  his  ears. 

"  Boston  men,"  he  said  to  himself  as  he 
watched  them,  "  lost  the  trail." 

They  had  indeed  lost  the  trail,  and  Ted 
Strong  had  begun  to  think  they  would  never 
find  it  again. 

Chetwoof,  their  Indian  guide,  had  not  talked 
very  much  about  it,  but  lapsed  into  his  favourite 
"  No  understand,"  a  remark  he  always  made 
when  he  did  not  want  to  answer  what  was  said 
to  him. 

Ted  and  his  father  were  on  their  way  from 
Sitka  to  the  Copper  River.  Mr.  Strong  was 
on  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  which 
Ted  knew  meant  that  he  had  to  go  all  around 


' 


Kalitan  Tenas  5 

the  country  and  poke  about  all  day  among  rocks 
and  mountains  and  glaciers.  He  had  come  with 
his  father  to  this  far  Alaskan  clime  in  the  hap- 
piest expectation  of  adventures  with  bears  and 
Indians,  alway  dear  to  the  heart  of  a  boy. 

He  was  pretty  tired  of  the  sledge,  having 
been  in  it  since  early  morning,  and  he  was  cold 
and  hungry  besides;  so  he  was  delighted  when 
the  dogs  stopped  and  his  father  said: 

"  Hop  out,  son,  and  stretch  your  legs.  We'll 
try  to  find  out  where  we  are  before  we  go  any 
farther." 

Chetwoof  meanwhile  was  interviewing  the 
boy,  who  came  quickly  toward  them. 

"  Who  are  you?"  demanded  Chetwoof. 

"  Kalitan  Tenas,"  was  the  brief  reply. 

"  Where  are  we?  "  was  the  next  question. 

"  Near  to  Pilchickamin  River." 

"  Where  is  a  camp?  " 

"  There,"  said  the  boy,  pointing  toward  a 
clump  of  pine-trees.     "  Ours." 


6  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

Ted  by  this  time  was  tired  of  his  own  un- 
wonted silence,  and  he  came  up  to  Kalitan, 
holding  out  his  hand. 

"  My  name  is  Ted  Strong,"  he  said,  genially, 
grinning  cheerfully  at  the  young  Alaskan.  "  I 
say  this  is  a  jolly  place.  I  wish  you  would  teach 
me  to  fish  in  a  snow-hole.  It  must  be  great  fun. 
I  like  you;  let's  be  friends!"  Kalitan  took 
the  boy's  hand  in  his  own  rough  one. 

"  Mahsie  "  (thank  you),  he  said,  a  sudden 
quick  smile  sweeping  his  dark  face  like  a  fleet- 
ing sunbeam,  but  disappearing  as  quickly,  leav- 
ing it  grave  again.     u01o?"   (hungry). 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Strong,  "  hungry  and  cold." 

"  Camp,"  said  Kalitan,  preparing  to  lead  the 
way,  with  the  hospitality  of  his  tribe,  for  the 
Thlinkits  are  always  ready  to  share  food  and 
fire  with  any  stranger.  The  two  boys  strode 
off  together,  and  Mr.  Strong  could  scarcely 
help  smiling  at  the  contrast  between  them. 

Ted  was  the  taller,  but  slim  even  in  the  furs 


Kalitan  Tenas  7 

which  almost  smothered  him,  leaving  only  his 
bright  face  exposed  to  the  wind  and  weather. 
His  hair  was  a  tangle  of  yellow  curls  which  no 
parting  could  ever  affect,  for  it  stood  straight 
up  from  his  forehead  like  a  golden  fleece;  his 
mother  called  it  his  aureole.  His  skin  was  fair 
as  a  girl's,  and  his  eyes  as  big  and  blue  as  a 
young  Viking's;  but  the  Indian  boy's  locks 
were  black  as  ink,  his  skin  was  swarthy,  his 
eyes  small  and  dark,  and  his  features  that 
strange  mixture  of  the  Indian,  the  Esquimo, 
and  the  Japanese  which  we  often  see  in  the  best 
of  our  Alaskan  cousins. 

Boys,  however,  are  boys  all  the  world  over, 
and  friendly  animals,  and  Ted  was  soon  chatter- 
ing away  to  his  newly  found  friend  as  if  he  had 
known  him  all  his  life. 

"  What's  your  name?  "  he  asked. 

"  Kalitan,"  was  the  answer.     "  They  call  me 
Kalitan  Tenas ; 1  my  father  was  Tyee." 
1  Little  Arrow. 


8  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  Where  is  he?  "  asked  Ted.  He  wanted  to 
see  an  Indian  chief. 

"  Dead,"  said  Kalitan,  briefly. 

"  I'm  sorry,"  said  Ted.  He  adored  his  own 
father,  and  felt  it  was  hard  on  a  boy  not  to 
have  one. 

"  He  was  killed,"  said  Kalitan,  "  but  we  had 
blood-money  from  them,"  he  added,  sternly. 

"  What's  that?  "  asked  Ted,  curiously. 

"  Long  time  ago,  when  one  man  kill  another, 
his  clan  must  pay  with  a  life.  One  must  be 
found  from  his  tribe  to  cry,  '  O-o-o-o-o-a- 
ha-a-ich-klu-kuk-ich-klu-kuk '  "  (ready  to  die, 
ready  to  die) .  His  voice  wailed  out  the  mourn- 
ful chant,  which  was  weird  and  solemn  and 
almost  made  Ted  shiver.  "  But  now,"  the  boy 
went  on,  "  Boston  men  "  (Americans)  "  do  not 
like  the  blood-tax,  so  the  murderer  pays  money 
instead.  We  got  many  blankets  and  baskets 
and  moneys  for  Kalitan  Tyee.   He  great  chief." 

"  Do  you  live  here?  "  asked  Ted. 


Kalitan  Tenas  9 

"  No,  live  on  island  out  there."  Kalitan 
waved  his  hand  seaward.  "  Come  to  fish  with 
my  uncle,  Klake  Tyee.  This  good  fishing- 
ground." 

"  It's  a  pretty  fine  country,"  said  Ted,  glanc- 
ing at  the  scene,  which  bore  charm  to  other  than 
boyish  eyes.  To  the  east  were  the  mountains 
sheltering  a  valley  through  which  the  frozen 
river  wound  like  a  silver  ribbon,  widening 
toward  the  sea.  A  cold  green  glacier  filled  the 
valley  between  two  mountains  with  its  peaks 
of  beauty.  Toward  the  shore,  which  swept  in 
toward  the  river's  mouth  in  a  sheltered  cove, 
were  clumps  of  trees,  giant  fir,  aspen,  and  hem- 
lock, green  and  beautiful,  while  seaward  swept 
the  waves  in  white-capped  loveliness. 

Kalitan  ushered  them  to  the  camp  with  great 
politeness  and  considerable  pride. 

"  You've  a  good  place  to  camp,"  said  Mr. 
Strong,  "  and  we  will  gladly  share  your  fire 
until  we  are  warm  enough  to  go  on." 


io         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

Ted's  face  fell.  "  Must  we  go  right  away?  " 
he  asked.     "  This  is  such  a  jolly  place." 

"  No  go  to-day,"  said  Kalitan,  briefly,  to 
Chetwoof.     "  Colesnass."  1 

"Huh!"  said  Chetwoof.    "Think  some." 

"  Here  comes  my  uncle,"  said  Kalitan,  and 
he  ran  eagerly  to  meet  an  old  Indian  who  came 
toward  the  camp  from  the  shore.  He  eagerly 
explained  the  situation  to  the  Tyee,  who  wel- 
comed the  strangers  with  grave  politeness.  He 
was  an  old  man,  with  a  seamed,  scarred  face, 
but  kindly  eyes.  Chief  of  the  Thlinkits,  his 
tribe  was  scattered,  his  children  dead,  and  Kali- 
tan about  all  left  to  him  of  interest  in  life. 

"  There  will  be  more  snow,"  he  said  to  Mr. 
Strong.  "  You  are  welcome.  Stay  and  share 
our  fire  and  food." 

"  Do  let  us  stay,  father,"  cried  Ted,  and  his 
father  smiled  indulgently,  but  Kalitan  looked 
at   him    in    astonishment.      Alaskan   boys    are 

1  Snow. 


Kalitan  Tenas  II 

taught  to  hold  their  tongues  and  let  their  elders 
decide  matters,  and  Kalitan  would  never  have 
dreamed  of  teasing  for  anything. 

But  Mr.  Strong  did  not  wish  to  face  another 
snow-storm  in  the  sledge,  and  knew  he  could 
work  but  little  till  the  storm  was  passed;  so 
he  readily  consented  to  stay  a  few  days  and  let 
Ted  see  some  real  Alaskan  hunting  and  fishing. 

Both  boys  were  delighted,  and  soon  had  the 
camp  rearranged  to  accommodate  the  strangers. 
The  fire  was  built  up,  Ted  and  Kalitan  gather- 
ing cones  and  fir  branches,  which  made  a  fra- 
grant blaze,  while  Chetwoof  cared  for  the 
dogs,  and  the  old  chief  helped  Mr.  Strong  pitch 
his  tent  in  the  lee  of  some  fragrant  firs.  Soon 
all  was  prepared  and  supper  cooking  over  the 
coals,  —  a  supper  of  fresh  fish  and  seal  fat, 
which  Alaskans  consider  a  great  delicacy,  and 
to  which  Mr.  Strong  added  coffee  and  crackers 
from  his  stores,  —  and  Indians  and  whites  ate 
together  in  friendliness  and  amity. 


CHAPTER  II 

AROUND    THE   CAMP-FIRE 

"  How  does  it  happen  that  you  speak  Eng- 
lish, Kalitan  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Strong  as  they  sat 
around  the  camp-fire  that  evening.  The  snow 
had  continued  during  the  afternoon,  and  the 
boys  had  had  an  exciting  time  coasting  and 
snow-balling  and  enjoying  themselves  generally. 

cc  I  went  for  a  few  months  to  the  Mission 
School  at  Wrangel,"  said  Kalitan.  "  I  learned 
much  there.  They  teach  the  boys  to  read  and 
write  and  do  sums  and  to  work  the  ground  be- 
sides.    They  learn  much  more  than  the  girls." 

"  Huh  !  "  said  the  old  chief,  grimly.  "  Girls 
learn  too  much.  They  no  good  for  Indian 
wives,  and  white  men  not  marry  them.     Best 


Around  the  Camp-fire  13 

for  girls  to  stay  at  home  at  the  will  of  their 
fathers  until  they  get  husbands." 

"  So  you've  been  in  Wrangel,"  said  Ted  to 
Kalitan.  "  We  went  there,  too.  It's  a  dandy 
place.  Do  you  remember  the  fringe  of  white 
mountains  back  of  the  harbour?  The  people 
said  the  woods  were  full  of  game,  but  we  didn't 
have  time  to  go  hunting.  There  are  a  few 
shops  there,  but  it  seemed  to  me  a  very  small 
place  to  have  been  built  since  1834.  In  the 
States  whole  towns  grow  up  in  two  or  three 
weeks." 

"  Huh !  "  said  Kalitan,  with  a  quick  shrug 
of  his  shoulders,  "  quick  grow,  sun  fade  and 
wind  blow  down." 

"  I  don't  think  the  sun  could  ever  fade  in 
Wrangel,"  laughed  Ted.  "  They  told  me  there 
it  hadn't  shone  but  fifteen  days  in  three  months. 
It  rained  all  the  time." 

"  Rain  is  nothing,"  said  Kalitan.  "  It  is 
when  the  Ice  Spirit  speaks  in  the  North  Wind's 


14         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

roar  and  in  the  crackling  of  the  floes  that  we 
tremble.  The  glaciers  are  the  children  of  the 
Mountain  Spirit  whom  our  fathers  worshipped. 
He  is  angry,  and  lo!  he  hurls  down  icebergs 
in  his  wrath,  he  tosses  them  about,  upon  the 
streams  he  tosses  the  kyaks  like  feathers  and 
washes  the  land  with  the  waves  of  Sitth.  When 
our  people  are  buried  in  the  ground  instead  of 
being  burnt  with  the  fire,  they  must  go  for  ever 
to  the  place  of  Sitth,  of  everlasting  cold,  where 
never  sun  abides,  nor  rain,  nor  warmth." 

Ted  had  listened  spellbound  to  this  poetic 
speech  and  gazed  at  Kalitan  in  open-mouthed 
amazement.  A  boy  who  could  talk  like  that 
was  a  new  and  delightful  playmate,  and  he 
said: 

%i  Tell  me  more  about  things,  Kalitan,"  but 
the  Indian  was  silent,  ashamed  of  having 
spoken. 

"  What  do  you  do  all  day  when  you  are  at 
home?  "  persisted  the  American. 


Around  the  Camp-fire  15 

"  In  winter  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to 
hunt  and  fish,"  said  Kalitan.  "  Sometimes  we 
do  not  find  much  game,  then  we  think  of  how, 
when  a  Thlinkit  dies,  he  has  plenty.  If  he  has 
lived  as  a  good  tribesman,  his  kyak  glides 
smoothly  over  the  silver  waters  into  the  sunset, 
until,  o'er  gently  flowing  currents,  it  reaches 
the  place  of  the  mighty  forest.  A  bad  war- 
rior's canoe  passes  dark  whirlpools  and  terrible 
rapids  until  he  reaches  the  place  we  speak  not 
of,  where  reigns  Sitth. 

"  In  the  summer-time  we  still  hunt  and  fish. 
Many  have  learned  to  till  the  ground,  and  we 
gather  berries  and  wood  for  the  winter.  The 
other  side  of  the  inlet,  the  tree-trunks  drift 
from  the  Yukon  and  are  stranded  on  the  islands, 
so  there  is  plenty  for  firewood.  But  upon  our 
island  the  women  gather  a  vine  and  dry  it. 
They  collect  seaweed  for  food  in  the  early 
spring,  and  dry  it  and  press  it  into  square  cakes, 
which  make  good  food  after  they  have  hung 


1 6         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

long  in  the  sun.  They  make  baskets  and  sell 
them  to  the  white  people.  Often  my  uncle  and 
I  take  them  to  Valdez,  and  once  we  brought 
back  fifty  dollars  for  those  my  mother  made. 
There  is  always  much  to  do." 

"  Don't  you  get  terribly  cold  hunting  in  the 
winter?"  asked  Ted. 

"  Thlinkit  boy  not  a  baby,"  said  Kalitan,  a 
trifle  scornfully.  "  We  begin  to  be  hardened 
when  we  are  babies.  When  I  was  five  years 
old,  I  left  my  father  and  went  to  my  uncle  to 
be  taught.  Every  morning  I  bathed  in  the 
ocean,  even  if  I  had  to  break  ice  to  find  water, 
and  then  I  rolled  in  the  snow.  After  that  my 
uncle  brushed  me  with  a  switch  bundle,  and 
not  lightly,  for  his  arm  is  strong.  I  must  not 
cry  out,  no  matter  if  he  hurt,  for  a  chiefs  son 
must  never  show  pain  nor  fear.  That  would 
give  his  people  shame." 

"  Don't  you  get  sick?  "  asked  Ted,  who  felt 


Around  the  Camp-fire  17 

cold  all  over  at  the  idea  of  being  treated  in  such 
a  heroic  manner. 

"  The  Kooshta 1  comes  sometimes,"  said 
Kalitan.  "  The  Shaman  2  used  to  cast  him  out, 
but  now  the  white  doctor  can  do  it,  unless  the 
kooshta  is  too  strong." 

Ted  was  puzzled  as  to  Kalitan's  exact  mean- 
ing, but  did  not  like  to  ask  too  many  questions 
for  fear  of  being  impolite,  so  he  only  said: 

"  Being  sick  is  not  very  nice,  anyhow." 

"  To  be  bewitched  is  the  most  terrible,"  said 
Kalitan,  gravely. 

"How  does  that  happen?"  asked  Ted, 
eagerly,  but  Kalitan  shook  his  head. 

"  It  is  not  good  to  hear,"  he  said.  "  The 
medicine-man  must  come  with  his  drum  and 
rattle,  and  he  is  very  terrible.  If  the  white 
men  will  not  allow  any  more  the  punishing  of 

1  Kooshta,  a  spirit  in  animal's  form  which  inhabits  the 
body  of  sick  persons  and  must  be  cast  out,  according  to 
Thlinkit  belief. 

*  Shaman,  native  medicine-man. 


18  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

the  witches,  they  should  send  more  of  the  white 
medicine-men,  if  we  are  not  to  have  any  more 
of  our  own." 

"  Boys  should  not  talk  about  big  things," 
said  the  old  chief  suddenly.  He  had  been  sit- 
ting quietly  over  the  fire,  and  spoke  so  suddenly 
that  Kalitan  collapsed  into  silence.  Ted,  too, 
quieted  down  at  the  old  chief's  stern  voice  and 
manner,  and  both  boys  sat  and  listened  to  the 
men  talking,  while  the  snow  still  swirled  about 
them. 

Tyee  Klake  told  Mr.  Strong  many  interest- 
ing things  about  the  coast  country,  and  gave 
him  valuable  information  as  to  the  route  he 
should  pursue  in  his  search  for  interesting 
things  in  the  mountains. 

"  It  will  be  two  weeks  before  the  snow  will 
break  so  you  can  travel  in  comfort,"  he  said. 
"  Camp  with  us.  We  remain  here  one  week, 
then  we  go  to  the  island.     We  can  take  you 


Around  the  Camp-fire  19 

there,  you  will  see  many  things,  and  your  boy 
will  hunt  with  Kalitan." 

"  Where  is  your  island?  "  asked  Mr.  Strong. 

Ted  said  nothing,  but  his  eyes  were  fixed 
eagerly  upon  his  father.  It  was  easy  to  see  that 
he  wished  to  accept  the  invitation. 

"  Out  there."  Tyee  Klake  pointed  toward 
where  the  white  coast-line  seemed  to  fade  into 
silvery  blue. 

"There  are  many  islands;  on  some  lives 
no  one,  but  we  have  a  village.  Soon  it  will  be 
nearly  deserted,  for  many  of  our  people  rove 
during  the  summer,  and  wander  from  one  camp- 
ing-ground to  another,  seeking  the  best  game 
or  fish.  But  Kalitan's  people  remain  always  on 
the  island.  Him  I  take  with  me  to  hunt  the 
whale  and  seal,  to  gather  the  berries,  and  to 
trap  the  little  animals  who  bear  fur.  We  find 
even  seal  upon  our  shores,  though  fewer  since 
your  people  have  come  among  us." 

"  Which  were  the  best,  Russians  or  Ameri- 


20  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

cans?"  asked  Mr.  Strong,  curious  to  see  what 
the  old  Indian  would  say,  but  the  Tyee  was  not 
to  be  caught  napping. 

"  Men  all  alike,"  he  said.  "  Thlinkit,  Rus- 
sian, American,  some  good,  some  bad.  Rus- 
sians used  Indians  more,  gave  them  hunting 
and  fishing,  and  only  took  part  of  the  skins. 
Americans  like  to  hunt  and  fish  all  themselves 
and  leave  nothing  for  the  Indians.  Russians 
teach  quass,  Americans  teach  whiskey.  Before 
white  men  came,  Indians  were  healthy.  They 
ate  fish,  game,  berries;  now  they  must  have 
other  foods,  and  they  are  not  good  for  Indians 
here,"  —  he  touched  his  stomach.  "  Indian 
used  to  dress  in  skins  and  furs,  now  he  must 
copy  white  man  and  shiver  with  cold.  He  soon 
has  the  coughing  sickness  and  then  he  goes  into 
the  unknown. 

"  But  the  government  of  the  Americans  is 
best  because  it  tries  to  do  some  things  for  the 
Indian.     It  teaches  our  boys  useful  things  in 


Around  the  Camp-fire  21 

the  schools,  and,  if  some  of  its  people  are  bad, 
some  Indians  are  bad,  too.  Men  all  alike," 
he  repeated  with  the  calm  stoicism  of  his  race. 

"  The  government  is  far  away,"  said  Mr. 
Strong,  "  and  should  not  be  blamed  for  the 
doings  of  all  its  servants.  I  should  like  to  see 
this  island  home  of  yours,  and  think  we  must 
accept  your  invitation;  shall  we,  Ted?"  he 
smiled  at  the  boy. 

"Yes,  indeed;  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Ted, 
and  he  and  Kalitan  grinned  at  each  other  hap- 
pily. 

"  We  shall  stay  in  camp  until  the  blue  jay 
comes,"  said  the  old  chief,  smiling,  "  and  then 
seek  the  village  of  my  people." 

"  What  does  the  blue  jay  mean?  "  asked  Ted, 
timidly,  for  he  was  very  much  in  awe  of  this 
grave  old  man. 

Kalitan  said  something  in  Thlinkit  to  his 
uncle,  and  the  old  chief,  looking  kindly  at  the 
boy,  replied  with  a  nod : 


22         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  I  will  tell  you  the  story  of  the  blue  jay," 
he  said. 

"  My  story  is  of  the  far,  far  north.  Beside 
a  salmon  stream  there  dwelt  people  rich  in 
slaves.  These  caught  and  dried  the  salmon  for 
the  winter,  and  nothing  is  better  to  eat  than 
dried  salmon  dipped  in  seal  oil.  All  the  fish 
were  caught  and  stored  away,  when  lo !  the 
whiteness  fell  from  heaven  and  the  snows  were 
upon  them.  It  was  the  time  of  snow  and  they 
should  not  have  complained,  but  the  chief  was 
evil  and  he  cursed  the  whiteness.  No  one 
should  dare  to  speak  evil  of  the  Snow  Spirit, 
which  comes  from  the  Unknown!  Deeper  and 
deeper  grew  the  snow.  It  flew  like  feathers 
about  the  eglu,1  and  the  slaves  had  many  troub- 
les in  putting  in  limbs  for  the  fire.  Then  the 
snow  came  in  flakes  so  large  they  seemed  like 
the  wings  of  birds,  and  the  house  was  covered, 
and  they  could  no  longer  keep  their  kyaks  on 
'Hut. 


Around  the  Camp-fire  23 

top  of  the  snow.  All  were  shut  tight  in  the 
house,  and  their  fire  and  food  ran  low.  They 
knew  not  how  many  days  they  were  shut  in, 
for  there  was  no  way  to  tell  the  day  from  night, 
only  they  knew  they  were  sore  hungry  and  that 
the  Snow  Spirit  was  angry  and  terrible  in  his 
anger. 

11  But  each  one  spoke  not;  he  only  chose  a 
place  where  he  should  lie  down  and  die  when 
he  could  bear  no  more. 

"  Only  the  chief  spoke,  and  he  once.  '  Snow 
Spirit,'  he  said  aloud,  '  I  alone  am  evil.  These 
are-not  so.  Slay  me  and  spare !  '  But  the  Snow 
Spirit  answered  not,  only  the  wind  screamed 
around  the  eglu,  and  his  screams  were  terrible 
and  sad.  Then  hope  left  the  heart  of  the  chief 
and  he  prepared  to  die  with  all  his  people  and 
all  his  slaves. 

"  But  on  the  day  when  their  last  bit  of  food 
was  gone,  lo !  something  pecked  at  the  top  of 
the  smoke-hole,  and  it  sang  '  Nuck-tee,'  and  it 


24  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

was  a  blue  jay.  The  chief  heard  and  saw  and 
wondered,  and,  looking  'neath  the  smoke-hole, 
he  saw  a  scarlet  something  upon  the  floor. 
Picking  it  up,  he  found  it  was  a  bunch  of  In- 
dian tomato  berries,  red  and  ripe,  and  quickly 
hope  sprang  in  his  breast. 

"  '  Somewhere  is  summer/  he  cried.  *  Let 
us  up  and  away.' 

"  Then  the  slaves  hastened  to  dig  out  the 
canoe,  and  they  drew  it  with  mighty  labour, 
for  they  were  weak  from  fasting,  over  the 
snows  to  the  shore,  and  there  they  launched 
it  without  sail  or  paddle,  with  all  the  people 
rejoicing.  And  after  a  time  the  wind  carried 
them  to  a  beach  where  all  was  summer.  Birds 
sang,  flowers  bloomed,  and  berries  gleamed 
scarlet  in  the  sun,  and  there  were  salmon  jump- 
ing in  the  blue  water.  They  ate  and  were  sat- 
isfied, for  it  was  summer  on  the  earth  and  sum- 
mer in  their  hearts. 

"  That   is  how  the  Thlinkits  came  to   our 


Around  the  Camp-fire  25 

island,  and  so  we  say  when  the  snow  breaks, 
that  now  comes  the  blue  jay." 

"  Thank  you  for  telling  us  such  a  dandy 
story,"  cried  Ted,  who  had  not  lost  a  word  of 
this  quaint  tale,  told  so  graphically  over  the 
camp-fire  of  the  old  chief  Klake. 


CHAPTER    III 


TO   THE    GLACIER 


Ted  slept  soundly  all  night,  wrapped  in  the 
bearskins  from  the  sledge,  in  the  little  tent  he 
shared  with  his  father.  When  the  morning 
broke,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  and  hurried  out 
of  doors,  hopeful  for  the  day's  pleasures.  The 
snow  had  stopped,  but  the  ground  was  covered 
with  a  thick  white  pall,  and  the  mountains  were 
turned  to  rose  colour  in  the  morning  sun,  which 
was  rising  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 

"  Good  morning,  Kalitan,"  shouted  Ted  to 
his  Indian  friend,  whom  he  spied  heaping  wood 
upon  the  camp-fire.  "  Isn't  it  dandy?  What 
can  we  do  to-day?  " 

"  Have  breakfast,"  said  Kalitan,  briefly. 
"  Then  do  what  Tyee  says." 

26 


To  the  Glacier  27 

Well,  I  hope  he'll  say  something  exciting," 
said  Ted. 

"  Think  good  day  to  hunt,"  said  Kalitan,  as 
he  prepared  things  for  the  morning  meal. 

"  Where  did  you  get  the  fish?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Broke  ice-hole  and  fished  when  I  got  up," 
said  the  Thlinkit. 

"  You  don't  mean  you  have  been  fishing 
already,"  exclaimed  the  lazy  Ted,  and  Kalitan 
smiled  as  he  said: 

"  White  people  like  fish.  Tyee  said:  '  Catch 
fish  for  Boston  men's  breakfast,'  and  I  go." 

"  Do  you  always  mind  him  like  that?  "  asked 
Ted.  He  generally  obeyed  his  father,  but  there 
were  times  when  he  wasn't  anxious  to  and  ar- 
gued a  little  about  it.  Kalitan  looked  at  him 
in  astonishment. 

"  He  chief!  "  he  said,  simply. 

"  What  will  we  do  with  the  camp  if  we  all 
go  hunting?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Nothing,"  said  Kalitan. 


28         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  Leave  Chetwoof  to  watch,  I  suppose,"  con- 
tinued Ted. 

"Watch?    Why?"  asked  Kalitan. 

"Why,  everything;  some  one  will  steal  our 
things,"  said  Ted. 

"  Thlinkits  not  steal,"  said  Kalitan,  with  dig- 
nity. "  Maybe  white  man  come  along  and  steal 
from  his  brothers;  Indians  not.  If  we  go  away 
to  long  hunt,  we  cache  blankets  and  no  one 
would  touch." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  cache?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  We  build  a  mound  hut  near  the  house,  and 
put  there  the  blankets  and  stores.  Sometime 
they  stay  there  for  years,  but  no  one  would  take 
from  a  cache.  If  one  has  plenty  of  wood  by 
the  seashore  or  in  the  forest,  he  may  cord  it  and 
go  his  way  and  no  one  will  touch  it.  A  deer 
hangs  on  a  tree  where  dogs  may  not  reach  it, 
but  no  stray  hunter  would  slice  even  a  piece. 
We  are  not  thieves." 

"  It  is  a  pity  you  could  not  send  missionaries 


To  the  Glacier  29 

to  the  States,  you  Thlinkits,  my  boy,"  said  Mr. 
Strong,  who  had  come  up  in  time  to  hear  Kali- 
tan's  words.  "  I'm  afraid  white  people  are  less 
honest." 

"  Teddy,  do  you  know  we  are  to  have  some 
hunting  to-day,  and  that  you'll  get  your  first 
experience  with  a  glacier." 

"  Hurrah,"  shouted  Ted,  dancing  up  and 
down  in  excitement. 

"  Tyee  Klake  says  we  can  hunt  toward  the 
base  of  the  glacier,  and  I  shall  try  to  go  a  little 
ways  upon  it  and  see  how  the  land  lies,  or, 
rather,  the  ice.  It  is  getting  warmer,  and,  if 
it  continues  a  few  days,  the  snow  will  melt 
enough  to  let  us  go  over  to  that  island  you  are 
so  anxious  to  see." 

Ted's  eyes  shone,  and  the  amount  of  break- 
fast he  put  away  quite  prepared  him  for  his 
day's  work,  which,  pleasant  though  it  might  be, 
certainly  was  hard  work.  The  chief  said  they 
must  seek  the  glacier  first  before  the  sun  got 


30         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

hot,  for  it  was  blinding  on  the  snow.  So  they 
set  out  soon  after  breakfast,  leaving  Chetwoof 
in  charge  of  the  camp,  and  with  orders  to  catch 
enough  fish  for  dinner. 

"  We'll  be  ready  to  eat  them,  heads  and 
tails,"  said  Ted,  and  his  father  added,  laugh- 
ingly : 

"  '  Bible,  bones,  and  hymn-book,  too.'  " 

"  What  does  that  mean?"  asked  Ted,  as 
Kalitan  looked  up  inquiringly. 

"  Once  a  writer  named  Macaulay  said  he 
could  make  a  rhyme  for  any  word  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  and  a  man  replied,  '  You  can't 
rhyme  Timbuctoo.'  But  he  answered  without 
a  pause : 

"  If  I  were  a  Cassowary 
On  the  plains  of  Timbuctoo, 
I'd  eat  up  a  missionary, 
Bible,  bones,  and  hymn-book,  too." 

Ted  laughed,  but  Kalitan  said,  grimly: 

"  Not   good   to   eat   Boston   missionary,    he 

all  skin  and  bone !  " 


To  the  Glacier  31 

"Where  did  they  get  the  name  Alaska?" 
asked  Ted,  as  they  tramped  over  the  snow 
toward  the  glacier. 

"  Al-ay-ck-sa  —  great  country,"  said  Kalitan. 

"  It  certainly  is,"  said  Ted.  "It's  fine!  I 
never  saw  anything  like  this  at  home,"  point- 
ing as  he  spoke  to  the  scene  in  front  of  him. 

A  group  of  evergreen  trees,  firs  and  the 
Alaska  spruce,  so  useful  for  fires  and  torches, 
fringed  the  edge  of  the  ice-field,  green  and  ver- 
dant in  contrast  to  the  gleaming  snows  of  the 
mountain,  which  rose  in  a  gentle  slope  at  first, 
then  precipitously,  in  a  dazzling  and  enchanting 
combination  of  colour.  It  was  as  if  some  mar- 
ble palace  of  old  rose  before  them  against  the 
heavens,  for  the  ice  was  cut  and  serrated  into 
spires  and  gables,  turrets  and  towers,  all  seem- 
ing to  be  ornamented  with  fretwork  where  the 
sun's  rays  struck  the  peaks  and  turned  them 
into  silver  and  gold.  Lower  down  the  ice 
looked  like  animals,  so  twisted  was  it  into  fan- 


32  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

tastic  shapes;  fierce  sea  monsters  with  yawning 
mouths  seeming  ready  to  devour;  bears  and 
wolves,  whales,  gigantic  elephants,  and  snowy 
tigers,  tropic  beasts  looking  strangely  out  of 
place  in  this  arctic  clime. 

Deep  crevices  cut  the  ice-fields,  and  in  their 
green-blue  depths  lurked  death,  for  the  least 
misstep  would  dash  the  traveller  into  an  abyss 
which  had  no  bottom.  Beyond  the  glacier  it- 
self, the  snow-capped  mountains  rose  grand  and 
serene,  their  glittering  peaks  clear  against  the 
blue  sky,  which  hue  the  glacier  reflected  and 
played  with  in  a  thousand  glinting  shades,  from 
purpling  amethyst  to  lapis  lazuli  and  tur- 
quoise. 

As  they  gazed  spellbound,  a  strange  thing  oc- 
curred, a  thing  of  such  wonder  and  beauty  that 
Ted  could  but  grasp  his  father's  arm  in  si- 
lence. 

Suddenly  the  peaks  seemed  to  melt  away,  the 
white  ice-pinnacles  became  real  turrets,  houses 


To  the  Glacier  33 

and  cathedrals  appeared,  and  before  them  arose 
a  wonderful  city  of  white  marble,  dream-like 
and  shadowy,  but  beautiful  as  Aladdin's  palace 
in  the  "  Arabian  Nights."  At  last  Ted  could 
keep  silent  no  longer. 

'"  What  is  it?"  he  cried,  and  the  old  chief 
answered,  gravely: 

"The  City  of  the  Dead,"  but  his  father 
said: 

"  A  mirage,  my  boy.  They  are  often  seen 
in  these  regions,  but  you  are  fortunate  in  seeing 
one  of  the  finest  I  have  ever  witnessed." 

"  What  is  a  mirage?  "  demanded  Ted. 

"  An  optical  delusion,"  said  his  father,  "  and 
one  I  am  sure  I  couldn't  explain  so  that  you 
would  understand  it.  The  queer  thing  about 
a  mirage  is  that  you  usually  see  the  very  thing 
most  unlikely  to  be  found  in  that  particular 
locality.  In  the  Sahara,  men  see  flowers  and 
trees  and  fountains,  and  here  on  this  glacier  we 
see  a  splendid  city." 


34         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  It  certainly  is  queer.  What  makes  glaciers, 
daddy?"  Ted  was  even  more  interested  than 
usual  in  his  father's  talk  because  of  Kalitan, 
whose  dark  eyes  never  left  Mr.  Strong's  face, 
and  who  seemed  to  drink  in  every  word  of 
information  as  eagerly  as  a  thirsty  bird  drinks 
water. 

*'  The  dictionaries  tell  you  that  glaciers  are 
fields  of  ice,  or  snow  and  ice,  formed  in  the 
regions  of  perpetual  snow,  and  moving  slowly 
down  the  mountain  slopes  or  valleys.  Many 
people  say  the  glaciers  are  the  fathers  of  the 
icebergs  which  float  at  sea,  and  that  these  are 
broken  off  the  glacial  stream,  but  others  deny 
this.  When  the  glacial  ice  and  snow  reaches 
a  point  where  the  air  is  so  warm  that  the  ice 
melts  as  fast  as  it  is  pushed  down  from  above, 
the  glacier  ends  and  a  river  begins.  These  are 
the  finest  glaciers  in  the  world,  except,  perhaps, 
those  of  the  Himalayas. 

"  This  bids  fair  to  be  a  wonderfully  interest- 


To  the  Glacier  35 

ing  place  for  my  work,  Ted,  and  I'm  glad 
you're  likely  to  be  satisfied  with  your  new 
friends,  for  I  shall  have  to  go  to  many  places 
and  do  a  lot  of  things  less  interesting  than  the 
things  Kalitan  can  show  you, 

"  See  these  blocks  of  fine  marble  and  those 
superb  masses  of  porphyry  and  chalcedony,  — 
but  there's  something  which  will  interest  you 
more.  Take  my  gun  and  see  if  you  can't  bring 
down  a  bird  for  supper." 

Wild  ducks  were  flying  low  across  the  edge 
of  the  glacier  and  quite  near  to  the  boys,  and 
Ted  grasped  his  father's  gun  in  wild  excite- 
ment. He  was  never  allowed  to  touch  a  gun 
at  home.  Dearly  as  he  loved  his  mother,  it  had 
always  seemed  very  strange  to  him  that  she 
should  show  such  poor  taste  about  firearms, 
and  refuse  to  let  him  have  any;  and  now  that 
he  had  a  gun  really  in  his  hands,  he  could  hardly 
hold  it,  he  was  so  excited.  Of  course  it  was  not 
the  first  time,  for  his  father  had  allowed  him 


36  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

to  practise  shooting  at  a  mark  ever  since  they 
had  reached  Alaska,  but  this  was  the  first  time 
he  had  tried  to  shoot  a  living  target.  He  se- 
lected his  duck,  aimed  quickly,  and  fired.  Bang! 
Off  went  the  gun,  and,  wonder  of  wonders  I 
two  ducks  fell  instead  of  one. 

"  Well  done,  Ted,  that  duck  was  twins," 
cried  his  father,  laughing,  almost  as  excited  as 
the  boy  himself,  and  they  ran  to  pick  up  the 
birds.  Kalitan  smiled,  too,  and  quietly  picked 
up  one,  saying: 

"  This  one  Kalitan's,"  showing,  as  he  spoke, 
his  arrow  through  the  bird's  side,  for  he  had 
discharged  an  arrow  as  Ted  fired  his  gun. 

"  Too  bad,  Ted.  I  thought  you  were  a 
mighty  hunter,  a  Nimrod  who  killed  two  birds 
with  one  stone,"  said  Mr.  Strong,  but  Ted 
laughed  and  said: 

"  So  I  got  the  one  I  shot  at,  I  don't  care." 

They  had  wild  duck  at  supper  that  night,  for 


To  the  Glacier  37 

Chetwoof  plucked  the  birds  and  roasted  them 
on  a  hot  stone  over  the  spruce  logs,  and  Ted, 
tired  and  wet  and  hungry,  thought  he  had  never 
tasted  such  a  delicious  meal  in  his  life. 


CHAPTER    IV 

TED   MEETS    MR.    BRUIN 

It  seemed  to  Ted  as  if  he  had  scarcely 
touched  the  pillow  on  the  nights  which  followed 
before  it  was  daylight,  and  he  would  awake  to 
find  the  sun  streaming  in  at  his  tent  flap.  He 
always  meant  to  go  fishing  with  Kalitan  before 
breakfast,  so  the  moment  he  woke  up  he  jumped 
out  of  bed,  if  his  pile  of  fragrant  pine  boughs 
covered  with  skins  could  be  called  a  bed,  and 
hurried  through  his  toilet.  Quick  as  he  tried 
to  be,  however,  he  was  never  ready  before  Kali- 
tan,  for,  when  Ted  appeared,  the  Indian  boy 
had  always  had  his  roll  in  the  snow  and  was 
preparing  his  lines. 

Kalitan  was  perfectly  fascinated  with  the 
American  boy.    He  thought  him  the  most  won- 

38 


Ted  Meets  Mr.  Bruin  39 

derful  specimen  of  a  boy  that  he  had  ever  seen. 
He  knew  so  much  that  Kalitan  did  not,  and 
talked  so  brightly  that  being  with  Ted  was  to 
the  Indian  like  having  a  book  without  the 
bother  of  reading.  There  were  some  things 
about  him  that  Kalitan  could  not  understand, 
to  be  sure.  Ted  talked  to  his  father  just  as  if 
he  were  another  boy.  He  even  spoke  to  Tyee 
Klake  on  occasions  when  that  august  personage 
had  not  only  not  asked  him  a  question,  but  was 
not  speaking  at  all.  From  the  Thlinkit  point 
of  view,  this  was  a  most  remarkable  perform- 
ance on  Ted's  part,  but  Kalitan  thought  it  must 
be  all  right  for  a  "  Boston  boy,"  for  even  the 
stern  old  chief  seemed  to  regard  happy-go-lucky 
Ted  with  approval. 

Ted,  on  the  other  hand,  thought  Kalitan  the 
most  remarkable  boy  he  had  ever  met  in  all  his 
life.  He  had  not  been  much  with  boys.  His 
"  Lady  Mother,"  as  he  always  called  the  gentle, 
brown-eyed    being    who    ruled    his    father    and 


40         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

himself,  had  not  cared  to  have  her  little  Gala- 
had mingle  with  the  rougher  city  boys  who 
thronged  the  streets,  and  had  kept  him  with 
herself  a  great  deal.  Ted  had  loved  books,  and 
he  and  his  little  sister  Judith  had  lived  in  a 
pleasant  atmosphere  of  refinement,  playing  hap- 
pily together  until  the  boy  had  grown  almost 
to  dread  anything  common  or  low.  His  mother 
knew  he  had  moral  courage,  and  would  face 
any  issue  pluckily,  but  his  father  feared  he 
would  grow  up  a  milksop,  and  thought  he 
needed  hardening. 

Mrs.  Strong  objected  to  the  hardening  proc- 
ess if  it  consisted  in  turning  her  boy  loose  to 
learn  the  ways  of  the  city  streets,  but  had  con- 
sented to  his  going  with  his  father,  urged 
thereto  by  fears  for  his  health,  which  was  not  of 
the  best,  and  the  knowledge  that  he  had  reached 
the  u  bear  and  Indian  "  age,  and  it  was  cer- 
tainly a  good  thing  for  him  to  have  his  experi- 
ences first-hand. 


Ted  Meets  Mr.  Bruin  41 

To  Ted  the  whole  thing  was  perfectly  de- 
lightful. When  he  lay  down  at  night,  he 
would  often  like  to  see  "  Mother  and  Ju,"  but 
he  was  generally  so  tired  that  he  was  asleep 
before  he  had  time  to  think  enough  to  be  really 
homesick.  During  the  day  there  was  too  much 
doing  to  have  any  thinking  time,  and,  since  he 
had  met  this  boy  friend,  he  thought  of  little 
else  but  him  and  what  they  were  to  do  next. 
The  Tyee  had  assured  Mr.  Strong  that  it  was 
perfectly  safe  for  the  boys  to  go  about  together. 

"  Kalitan  knows  all  the  trails,"  he  said. 
"  He  take  care  of  white  brother.  Anything 
come,  call  Chetwoof." 

As  Mr.  Strong  was  very  anxious  to  penetrate 
the  glacier  under  Klake's  guidance,  and  wanted 
Ted  to  enjoy  himself  to  the  full,  he  left  the  boys 
to  themselves,  the  only  stipulation  being  that 
they  should  not  go  on  the  water  without  Chet- 
woof. 

There  seemed  to  be  always  something  new 


42  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

to  do.  As  the  days  grew  warmer,  the  ice  broke 
in  the  river,  and  the  boys  tramped  all  over  the 
country.  Ted  learned  to  use  the  bow  and  ar- 
row, and  brought  down  many  a  bird  for  sup- 
per, and  proud  he  was  when  he  served  up  for 
his  father  a  wild  duck,  shot,  plucked,  and 
cooked  all  by  himself. 

They  fished  in  the  stream  by  day  and  set 
lines  by  night.  They  trapped  rabbits  and  hares 
in  the  woods,  and  one  day  even  got  a  silver  fox, 
a  skin  greatly  prized  by  the  fur  traders  on 
account  of  its  rarity.  Kalitan  insisted  that  Ted 
should  have  it,  though  he  could  have  gotten 
forty  dollars  for  it  from  a  white  trader,  and  Ted 
was  rejoiced  at  the  idea  of  taking  it  home  to 
make  a  set  of  furs  for  Judith. 

One  day  Ted  had  a  strange  experience,  and 
not  a  very  pleasant  one,  which  might  have  been 
very  serious  had  it  not  been  for  Kalitan.  He 
had  noticed  a  queer-looking  plant  on  the  river- 
bank  the  day  before,  and  had  stopped  to  pick 


Ted  Meets  Mr.  Bruin  43 

it  up,  when  he  received  such  a  sudden  and  unex- 
pected pricking  as  to  cause  him  to  jump  back 
and  shout  for  Kalitan.  His  hand  felt  as  if  it 
had  been  pierced  by  a  thousand  needles,  and  he 
flew  to  a  snow-bank  to  rub  it  with  snow. 

"  I  must  have  gotten  hold  of  some  kind  of 
a  cactus,"  he  said  to  Kalitan,  who  only  replied: 

"  Huh !  picked  hedgehog,"  as  he  pointed  to 
where  Ted's  cactus  was  ambling  indignantly 
away  with  every  quill  rattling  and  set  straight 
out  in  anger  at  having  his  morning  nap  dis- 
turbed. Kalitan  wrapped  Ted's  hand  in  soft 
mud,  which  took  the  pain  out,  but  he  couldn't 
use  it  much  for  the  next  few  days,  and  did  not 
feel  eager  to  hunt  when  his  father  and  the  Tyee 
started  out  in  the  morning.  Kalitan  remained 
with  him,  although  his  eyes  looked  wistful,  for 
he  had  heard  the  chief  talk  about  bear  tracks 
having  been  seen  the  day  before.  Bears  were 
quite  a  rarity,  but  sometimes  an  old  cinnamon 
or  even  a  big  black  bruin  would  venture  down 


44         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

in  search  of  fresh  fish,  which  he  would  catch 
cleverly  with  his  great  paws. 

Kalitan  and  Ted  fished  awhile,  and  then  Ted 
wandered  away  a  little,  wondering  what  lay 
around  a  point  of  rock  which  he  had  never  yet 
explored.  Something  lay  there  which  he  had 
by  no  means  expected  to  see,  and  he  scarcely 
knew  what  to  make  of  it.  On  the  river-bank, 
close  to  the  edge  of  the  stream,  was  a  black 
figure,  an  Indian  fishing,  as  he  supposed,  and 
he  paused  to  watch.  The  fisherman  was  cov- 
ered with  fur  from  head  to  foot,  and,  as  Ted 
watched  him,  he  seemed  to  have  no  line  or  rod. 
Going  nearer,  the  boy  grew  even  more  puzzled, 
and,  though  the  man's  back  was  toward  him, 
he  could  easily  see  that  there  was  something  un- 
usual about  the  figure.  Just  as  he  was  within 
hailing  distance  and  about  to  shout,  the  figure 
made  a  quick  dive  toward  the  water  and  sprang 
back  again  with  a  fish  between  his  paws,  and 
Ted  saw  that  it  was  a  huge  bear.     He  gave  a 


Ted  Meets  Mr.  Bruin  45 

sharp  cry  and  then  stood  stock-still.  The  crea- 
ture looked  around  and  stood  gnawing  his  fish 
and  staring  at  Ted  as  stupidly  as  the  boy  stared 
at  him.  Then  Ted  heard  a  halloo  behind  him 
and  Kalitan's  voice : 

"  Run  for  Chetwoof,  quick !  " 

Ted  obeyed  as  the  animal  started  to  move 
off.  He  ran  toward  the  camp,  hearing  the  re- 
port of  Kalitan's  gun  as  he  ran.  Chetwoof, 
hearing  the  noise,  hurried  out,  and  it  was  but 
a  few  moments  before  he  was  at  Kalitan's  side. 
To  Ted  it  seemed  like  a  day  before  he  could 
get  back  and  see  what  was  happening,  but  he 
arrived  on  the  scene  in  time  to  see  Chetwoof 
despatch  the  animal. 

"  Hurrah!"  cried  Ted.  "You've  killed  a 
bear,"  but  Chetwoof  only  grunted  crossly. 

"Very  bad  luck!  "  he  said,  and  Kalitan  ex- 
plained: 

"  Indians  don't  like  to  kill  bears  or  ravens. 
Spirits  in  them,  maybe  ancestors." 


46         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

Ted  looked  at  him  in  great  astonishment, 
but  Kalitan  explained : 

"  Once,  long  ago,  a  Thlinkit  girl  laughed  at 
a  bear  track  in  the  snow  and  said :  '  Ugly  animal 
must  have  made  that  track ! '  But  a  bear  heard 
and  was  angry.  He  seized  the  maiden  and  bore 
her  to  his  den,  and  turned  her  into  a  bear,  and 
she  dwelt  with  him,  until  one  day  her  brother 
killed  the  bear  and  she  was  freed.  And  from 
that  day  Thlinkits  speak  respectfully  of  bears, 
and  do  not  try  to  kill  them,  for  they  know  not 
whether  it  is  a  bear  or  a  friend  who  hides 
within  the  shaggy  skin." 

The  Tyee  and  Mr.  Strong  were  greatly  sur- 
prised when  they  came  home  to  see  the  huge 
carcass  of  Mr.  Bruin,  and  they  listened  to  the 
account  of  Kalitan's  bravery.  The  old  chief 
said  little,  but  he  looked  approvingly  at  Kali- 
tan,  and  said  "  Hyas  kloshe  "  (very  good), 
which  unwonted  praise  made  the  boy's  face 
glow  with  pleasure.     They  had  a  great  discus- 


Ted  Meets  Mr.  Bruin  47 

sion  as  to  whom  the  bear  really  belonged.  Ted 
had  found  him,  Kalitan  had  shot  him  first,  and 
Chetwoof  had  killed  him,  so  they  decided  to 
go  shares.  Ted  wanted  the  skin  to  take  home, 
and  thought  it  would  make  a  splendid  rug  for 
his  mother's  library,  so  his  father  paid  Kalitan 
and  Chetwoof  what  each  would  have  received 
as  their  share  had  the  skin  been  sold  to  a  trader, 
and  they  all  had  bear  meat  for  supper.  Ted 
thought  it  finer  than  any  beefsteak  he  had  ever 
eaten,  and  over  it  Kalitan  smacked  his  lips  audi- 
bly. 


CHAPTER   V 

A   MONSTER   OF   THE    DEEP 

The  big  bear  occupied  considerable  atten- 
tion for  several  days.  He  had  to  be  carefully 
skinned  and  part  of  the  meat  dried  for  future 
use.  Alaskans  never  use  salt  for  preserving 
meat.  Indeed  they  seem  to  dislike  salt  very 
much.  It  had  taken  Ted  some  time  to  learn 
to  eat  all  his  meat  and  fish  quite  fresh,  without 
a  taste  of  salt,  but  he  had  grown  to  like  it. 
There  is  something  in  the  sun  and  wind  of 
Alaska  which  cures  meat  perfectly,  and  the 
bear's  meat  was  strung  on  sticks  and  dried  in 
the  sun  so  that  they  might  enjoy  it  for  a  long 
time. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  adventure  with  Bruin  was 
enough  to  last  the  boys  for  several  days,  for 

48 


A  Monster  of  the  Deep  49 

Ted's  hand  still  pained  him  from  the  porcu- 
pine's quills,  and  he  felt  tired  and  lazy.  He  lay 
by  the  camp-fire  one  afternoon  listening  to  Kali- 
tan's  tales  of  his  island  home,  when  his  father 
came  in  from  a  long  tramp,  and,  looking  at 
him  a  little  anxiously,  asked : 

"  What's  the  matter,  son?  " 

Hl  Nothing,  I'm  only  tired,"  said  Ted,  but 
Kalitan  said: 

"  Porcupine  quills  poison  hand.  Well  in  a 
few  days." 

"  So  your  live  cactus  is  getting  in  his  work, 
is  he?  I'm  glad  it  wasn't  the  bear  you  mistook 
for  an  Alaskan  posy  and  tried  to  pick.  I'm 
tired  myself,"  and  Mr.  Strong  threw  himself 
down  to  rest. 

"  Daddy,  how  did  we  come  to  have  Alaska, 
anyway?  " 

"  Well,  that's  a  long  story,"  said  his  father, 
"  but  an  interesting  one." 

"  Do  tell  us  about  it,"  urged  Ted.    "  I  know 


50         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

we  bought  it,  but  what  did  we  pay  the  Indians 
for  it?  I  shouldn't  have  thought  they'd  have 
sold  such  a  fine  country." 

Kalitan  looked  up  quickly,  and  there  was  a 
sudden  gleam  in  his  dark  eyes  that  Ted  had 
never  seen  before. 

"  Thlinkits  never  sell,"  he  said.  "  Russians 
steal." 

Mr.  Strong  put  his  hand  kindly  on  the  boy's 
head. 

"You're  right,  Kalitan,"  he  said.  "  The 
Russians  never  conquered  the  Thlinkits,  the 
bravest  tribe  in  all  Alaska. 

"  You  see,  Teddy,  it  was  this  way.  A  great 
many  years  ago,  about  1740,  a  Danish  sailor 
named  Bering,  who  was  in  the  service  of  the 
Russians,  sailed  across  the  ocean  and  discovered 
the  strait  named  for  him,  and  a  number  of 
islands.  Some  of  these  were  not  inhabited, 
others  had  Indians  or  Esquimos  on  them,  but, 
atter  the  manner  of  the  early  discoverers,  Be- 


A  Monster  of  the  Deep  51 

ring  took  possession  of  them  all  in  the  name  of 
the  Emperor  of  Russia.  It  doesn't  seem  right 
as  we  look  at  things  now,  but  in  those  days 
'  might  made  right,5  and  it  was  just  the  same 
way  the  English  did  when  they  came  to  Amer- 
ica. 

"  The  Russians  settled  here,  finding  the  fish- 
ing and  furs  fine  things  for  trade,  and  driving 
the  Indians,  who  would  not  yield  to  them,  far- 
ther and  farther  inland.  In  1790  the  Czar 
made  Alexander  Baranoff  manager  of  the  trad- 
ing company.  Baranoff  established  trading- 
posts  in  various  places,  and  settled  at  Sitka, 
where  you  can  see  the  ruins  of  the  splendid 
castle  he  built.  The  Russians  also  sent  mission- 
aries to  convert  the  Indians  to  the  Greek 
Church,  which  is  the  church  of  Russia.  The 
Indians,  however,  never  learned  to  care  for  the 
Russians,  and  often  were  cruelly  treated  by 
them.  The  Russians,  however,  tried  to  do 
something  for  their  education,  and  established 


52         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

several  schools.  One  as  early  as  1775,  on  Ka- 
diak  Island,  had  thirty  pupils,  who  studied 
arithmetic,  reading,  navigation,  and  four  of  the 
mechanical  trades,  and  this  is  a  better  record 
than  the  American  purchasers  can  show,  I  am 
sorry  to  say. 

"  One  of  the  recent  travellers 1  in  Alaska 
says  that  he  met  in  the  country  *  American  citi- 
zens who  never  in  their  lives  heard  a  prayer  for 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  nor  of  the 
Fourth  of  July,  nor  the  name  of  the  capital  of 
the  nation,  but  who  have  been  taught  to  pray 
for  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  to  celebrate  his 
birthday,  and  to  commemorate  the  victories  of 
ancient  Greece. '  In  March,  1867,  the  Russians 
sold  Alaska  to  the  United  States  for  $7,200,- 
000  in  gold.  It  was  bought  for  a  song  almost, 
when  we  consider  the  immense  amount  of 
money  made   for  the  government  by  the  seal 

1  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson,  General  Agent  of  Education  in 
the  Territory. 


A  Monster  of  the  Deep  53 

fisheries,  the  cod  and  salmon  industries,  and  the 
opening  of  the  gold  fields.  The  resources  of  the 
country  are  not  half-known,  and  the  govern- 
ment is  beginning  to  see  this.  That  is  one  of 
the  reasons  they  have  sent  me  here,  with  the 
other  men,  to  find  out  what  the  earth  holds  for 
those  who  do  not  know  how  to  look  for  its 
treasures.  Gold  is  not  the  best  thing  the  earth 
produces.  There  is  land  in  Alaska  little  known 
full  of  coal  and  other  useful  minerals.  Other 
land  is  covered  with  magnificent  timber  which 
could  be  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
There  are  pasture-lands  where  stock  will  fatten 
like  pigs  without  any  other  feeding;  there  are 
fertile  soils  which  will  raise  almost  any  crops, 
and  there  are  intelligent  Indians  who  can  be 
taught  to  work  and  be  useful  members  of  soci- 
ety. I  do  not  mean  dragged  off  to  the  United 
States  to  learn  things  they  could  never  use  in 
their  home  lives,  but  who  should  be  educated 


54         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

here  to  make  the  best  of  their  talents  in  their 
home  surroundings. 

"  That  is  one  crying  shame  to  our  govern- 
ment, that  they  have  neglected  the  Alaskan  citi- 
zens. Forty  years  have  been  wasted,  but  we 
are  beginning  to  wake  up  now,  and  twenty 
years  more  will  see  the  Indians  of  Kalitan's  gen- 
eration industrious  men  and  women,  not  only 
clever  hunters  and  fishermen,  but  lumbermen, 
coopers,  furniture  makers,  farmers,  miners,  and 
stock-raisers." 

At  this  moment  their  quiet  conversation  was 
interrupted  by  a  wild  shout  from  the  shore, 
and,  springing  to  their  feet,  they  saw  Chetwoof 
gesticulating  wildly  and  shouting  to  the  Tyee, 
who  had  been  mending  his  canoe  by  the  river- 
bank.  Kalitan  dropped  everything  and  ran 
without  a  word,  scudding  like  the  arrow  from 
which  he  took  his  name.  Before  Ted  could 
follow  or  ask  what  was  the  matter,  from  the 
ocean  a  huge  body  rose  ten  feet  out  of  the  water, 


A  Monster  of  the  Deep  55 

spouting  jets  of  spray  twenty  feet  into  the  air, 
the  sun  striking  his  sides  and  turning  them  to 
glistening  silver.  Then  it  fell  back,  the  waters 
churning  into  frothy  foam  for  a  mile  around. 

"  It's  a  whale,  Ted,  sure  as  you  live.  Luck 
certainly  is  coming  your  way,"  said  his  father; 
but,  at  the  word  "  whale,"  Ted  had  started 
after  Kalitan,  losing  no  time  in  getting  to  the 
scene  of  action  as  fast  as  possible. 

"  Watch  the  Tyee !  "  called  Kalitan  over  his 
shoulder,  as  both  boys  ran  down  to  the  water's 
edge. 

The  old  chief  was  launching  his  kiak  into 
the  seething  waters,  and  to  Ted  it  seemed  in- 
credible that  he  meant  to  go  in  that  frail  bark 
in  pursuit  of  the  mighty  monster.  The  old 
man's  face,  however,  was  as  calm  as  though 
starting  on  a  pleasure-trip  in  peaceful  waters, 
and  Ted  watched  in  breathless  admiration  to 
see  what  would  happen  next. 

Klake  paddled  swiftly  out  to  sea,  drawing 


56  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

as  near  as  he  dared  to  where  the  huge  monster 
splashed  idly  up  and  down  like  a  great  puppy 
at  play.  He  stopped  the  kiak  and  watched; 
then  poised  his  spear  and  threw  it,  and  so  swift 
and  graceful  was  his  gesture  that  Ted  exclaimed 
in  amazement. 

"  Tyee  Klake  best  harpoon-thrower  of  all  the 
Thlinkits,"  said  Kalitan,  proudly.     "  Watch!" 

Ted  needed  no  such  instructions.  His  keen 
eyes  passed  from  fish  to  man  and  back  again, 
and  no  movement  of  the  Tyee  escaped  him. 

The  instant  the  harpoon  was  thrown,  the 
Tyee  paddled  furiously  away,  for  when  a  har- 
poon strikes  a  whale,  he  is  likely  to  lash  vio- 
lently with  his  tail,  and  may  destroy  his  enemy, 
and  this  is  a  moment  of  terrible  danger  to  the 
harpooner.  But  the  whale  was  too  much  aston- 
ished to  fight,  and,  with  a  terrific  splash,  he 
dived  deep,  deep  into  the  water,  to  get  rid  of 
that  stinging  thing  in  his  side,  in  the  cold  green 
waters  below, 


AWAY    WENT   ANOTHER    STINGING    LANCE. 


A  Monster  of  the  Deep  57 

The  Tyee  waited,  his  grim  face  tense  and 
earnest.  It  might  have  been  fifteen  minutes, 
for  whales  often  stay  under  water  for  twenty 
minutes  before  coming  to  the  surface  to  breathe, 
but  to  Kalitan  and  Ted  it  seemed  an  hour. 

Then  the  spray  dashed  high  into  the  air 
again,  and  the  instant  the  huge  body  appeared, 
Klake  drew  near,  and  away  went  another  sting- 
ing lance  again,  swift  and,  oh !  so  sure  of  aim. 
This  time  the  whale  struck  out  wildly,  and  Kali- 
tan  held  his  breath,  while  Ted  gasped  at  the 
Tyee's  danger,  for  his  kiak  rocked  like  a  shell 
and  then  was  quite  hidden  from  their  sight  by 
the  spray  which  was  dashed  heavenward  like 
clouds  of  white  smoke. 

Once  more  the  creature  dived,  and  this  time 
he  stayed  down  only  a  few  minutes,  and,  when 
he  came  up,  blood  spouted  into  the  air  and  dyed 
the  sea  crimson,  and  Kalitan  exclaimed: 

"  Pierced  his  lungs!     Now  he  must  die." 

There  was  one  more  bright,  glancing  weapon 


58  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

flying  through  the  air,  and  Ted  noticed  attached 
to  it  by  a  thong  a  curious-looking  bulb,  and 
asked  Kalitan: 

"  What  is  on  that  lance?  " 

"  Sealskin  buoy,"  said  Kalitan.  "  We  make 
the  bag  and  blow  it  up,  tie  it  to  the  harpoon, 
and  when  the  lance  sticks  into  the  whale,  the 
buoy  makes  it  very  hard  for  him  to  dive.  After 
awhile  he  dies  and  drifts  ashore." 

The  waters  about  the  whale  were  growing 
red,  and  the  carcass  seemed  drifting  out  to  sea, 
and  at  last  the  Tyee  seemed  satisfied.  He  sent 
a  last  look  toward  the  huge  body,  then  turned 
his  kiak  toward  the  watchers  on  the  banks. 

"  If  it  only  comes  to  shore,"  said  Kalitan. 

"  What  will  you  do  with  it?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Oh,  there  are  lots  of  things  we  can  do  with 
a  whale,"  said  Kalitan.  "  The  blubber  is  the 
best  thing  to  eat  in  all  the  world.  Then  we  use 
the  oil  in  a  bowl  with  a  bit  of  pith  in  it  to  light 
our  huts.    The  bones  are  all  useful  in  building 


A  Monster  of  the  Deep  59 

our  houses.  Whales  were  once  bears,  but  they 
played  too  much  on  the  shore  and  ran  away  to 
sea,  so  they  wore  off  all  their  fur  on  the  rocks, 
and  had  their  feet  nibbled  off  by  the  fishes." 

"  Well,  this  one  didn't  have  his  tail  nibbled 
off  at  any  rate,"  laughed  Ted.  "  I  saw  it  flap 
at  the  Tyee,  and  thought  that  was  the  last  of 
him,  sure." 

"  Tyee  much  big  chief,"  said  Kalitan,  and 
just  then  the  old  man's  kiak  drew  near  them, 
and  he  stepped  ashore  as  calmly  as  though  he 
had  not  just  been  through  so  exciting  a  scene 
with  a  mighty  monster  of  the  deep. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE    ISLAND    HOME    OF   KALITAN 

Swift  and  even  were  the  strokes  of  the  pad- 
dles as  the  canoes  sped  over  the  water  toward 
Kalitan's  island  home.  Ted  was  so  excited  that 
he  could  hardly  sit  still,  and  Tyee  Klake  gave 
him  a  warning  glance  and  a  muttered  "  Koole- 
tchika."1 

The  day  before  a  big  canoe  had  come  to  the 

camp,   the  paddlers  bearing  messages   for  the 

Tyee,  and  he  had  had  a  long  conversation  with 

Mr.    Strong.      The   result   was   astonishing   to 

Teddy,  for  his  father  told  him  that  he  was  to 

go   for  a   month  to   the   island  with    Kalitan. 

This  delighted  him  greatly,  but  he  was  a  little 

1   "  Dangerous  channel." 
60 


The  Island  Home  of  Kalitan       61 

frightened  when  he  found  that  his  father  was 
to  stay  behind. 

"  It's  just  this  way,  son,"  Mr.  Strong  ex- 
plained to  him.  "  I'm  here  in  government  em- 
ploy, taking  government  pay  to  do  government 
work.  I  must  do  it  and  do  it  well  in  the  short- 
est time  possible.  You  will  have  a  far  better 
time  on  the  island  with  Kalitan  than  you  could 
possibly  have  loafing  around  the  camp  here. 
You  couldn't  go  to  many  places  where  I  am 
going,  and,  if  my  mind  is  easy  about  you,  I  can 
take  Chetwoof  and  do  my  work  in  half  the 
time.  I'll  come  to  the  island  in  three  or  four 
weeks,  and  we'll  take  a  week's  vacation  to- 
gether, and  then  we'll  hit  the  trail  for  the  gold- 
fields.  Are  you  satisfied  with  this  arrange- 
ment?" 

"  Yes,  sir."  Ted's  tone  was  dubious,  but 
his  face  soon  cleared  up.  "  A  month  won't  be 
very  long,  father." 

11  No,  I'll  wager  you'll  be  sorry  to  leave  when 


62  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

I  come  for  you.  Try  and  not  make  any  trouble. 
Of  course  Indian  ways  are  not  ours,  but  you'll 
get  used  to  it  all  and  enjoy  it.  It's  a  chance 
most  boys  would  be  crazy  over,  and  you'll  have 
tales  to  tell  when  you  get  home  to  make  your 
playmates  envy  you.  I'm  glad  I  have  a  son 
I  can  trust  to  keep  straight  when  he  is  out  of 
my  sight,"  and  he  laid  his  hand  affectionately 
on  the  boy's  shoulder.  Ted  looked  his  father 
squarely  in  the  eye,  but  gave  only  a  little  nod 
in  answer,  then  he  laughed  his  clear,  ringing 
laugh. 

''Wouldn't  mother  have  spasms!"  he  ex- 
claimed.    Mr.   Strong  laughed  too,  but  said: 

"  You'll  be  just  as  well  off  tumbling  around 
with  Kalitan  as  falling  off  a  glacier  or  two,  as 
you  would  be  certain  to  do  if  you  were  with 
me. 

Teddy  felt  a  little  blue  when  he  said  good- 
bye to  his  father,  but  Kalitan  quickly  dispelled 
his  gloom  by  a  great  piece  of  news. 


The  Island  Home  of  Kalitan        63 

"  Great  time  on  island,"  he  said,  as  the  canoe 
glided  toward  the  dim  outline  of  land  to  which 
Ted's  thoughts  had  so  often  turned.  "  Tyee's 
whale  came  ashore.  We  go  to  see  him  cut 
up." 

"Hurrah!"  cried  Ted,  delighted.  "  To 
think  I  shall  see  all  that!  What  else  will  we 
do,  Kalitan?" 

"  Hunt,  fish,  hear  old  Kala-kash  stories.  See 
berry  dance  if  you  stay  long  enough,  perhaps  a 
potlatch;   do  many  things,"  said  the  Indian. 

One  of  the  Indian  paddlers  said  something 
to  Kalitan,  and  he  laughed  a  little,  and  Ted 
asked,  curiously:    "What  did  he  say?" 

"  Said  Kalitan  Tenas  learned  to  talk  as  much 
as  a  Boston  boy,"  said  Kalitan,  laughing  heart- 
ily, and  Ted  laughed,  too. 

The  canoes  were  nearing  the  shore  of  a 
wooded  island,  and  Ted  saw  a  fringe  of  trees 
and  some  native  houses  clustered  picturesquely 
against  them  at  the  crest  of  a  small  hill  which 


64  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

sloped  down  to  the  water's  edge,  where  stood  a 
group  of  people  awaiting  the  canoes. 

"  My  home,"  said  Kalitan,  pointing  to  the 
largest  house,  "  my  people."  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  pride  in  his  tone  and  look,  and 
he  received  a  warm  welcome  as  the  canoes 
touched  land  and  their  occupants  sprang  on 
shore.  The  boys  crowded  around  the  young 
Indian  and  chattered  and  gesticulated  toward 
Ted,  while  a  bright-looking  little  Malamute 
sprang  upon  Kalitan  and  nearly  knocked  him 
down,  covering  his  face  with  eager  puppy 
kisses. 

The  girls  were  less  boisterous,  and  regarded 
Teddy  with  shy  curiosity.  Some  of  them  were 
quite  pretty,  and  the  babies  were  as  cunning  as 
the  puppies.  They  barked  every  time  the  dogs 
did,  in  a  funny,  hoarse  little  way,  and,  indeed, 
Alaskan  babies  learn  to  bark  long  before  they 
learn  to  talk. 

The  Tyee's  wife  received  Teddy  kindly,  and 


"A  GROUP    OF    PEOPLE   AWAITING  THE    CANOES. 


The  Island  Home  of  Kalitan        65 

he  soon  found  himself  quite  at  home  among 
these  hospitable  people,  who  seemed  always 
friendly  and  natural.  Nearly  all  spoke  some 
English,  and  he  rapidly  added  to  his  store  of 
Chinook,  so  that  he  had  no  trouble  in  making 
himself  understood  or  in  understanding.  Of 
course  he  missed  his  father,  but  he  had  little  time 
to  be  lonely.  Life  in  the  village  was  anything 
but  uneventful. 

At  first  there  was  the  whale  to  be  attended 
to,  and  all  the  village  turned  out  for  that.  The 
huge  creature  had  drifted  ashore  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  island,  and  Ted  was  much  interested 
in  seeing  him  gradually  disposed  of.  Great 
masses  of  blubber  were  stripped  from  the  sides 
to  be  used  later  both  for  food  and  fuel,  the 
whalebone  was  carefully  secured  to  be  sold  to 
the  traders,  and  it  seemed  to  Ted  that  there 
was  not  one  thing  in  that  vast  carcass  for  which 
the  Indians  did  not  have  some  use. 

Ted  soon  tired  of  watching  the  many  things 


66         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

done  with  the  whale,  but  there  was  plenty  to  do 
and  see  in  the  village. 

The  village  houses  were  all  alike.  There 
was  one  large  room  in  which  the  people  cooked, 
ate,  and  slept.  The  girls  had  blankets  strung 
across  one  corner,  behind  which  were  their  beds. 
Teddy  was  given  one  also  for  his  corner  of  the 
great  room  in  the  Tyee's  house. 

He  learned  to  eat  the  food  and  to  like  it  very 
much.  There  was  dried  fish,  herons'  eggs,  ber- 
ries, or  those  put  up  in  seal  oil,  which  is  ob- 
tained by  frying  the  fat  out  of  the  blubber  of 
the  seal.  The  Alaskans  use  this  oil  in  nearly  all 
their  cooking,  and  are  very  fond  of  it.  Ted 
ate  also  dried  seaweed,  chopped  and  boiled  in 
seal  oil,  which  tasted  very  much  like  boiled  and 
salted  leather,  but  he  liked  it  very  well.  Indeed 
he  grew  so  strong  and  well,  out-of-doors  all  day 
in  the  clear  air  and  bright  sunshine  of  the  Alas- 
kan June,  that  he  could  eat  anything  and  tramp 
all  day  without  being  too  tired  to  sleep  like  a 


The  Island  Home  of  Kalitan        67 

top  all  night,  and  wake  ready  for  a  new  day 
with  a  zest  he  never  felt  at  home. 

Fresh  fish  were  plentiful.  The  boys  caught 
salmon,  smelts,  and  whitefish,  and  many  were 
dried  for  the  coming  winter,  while  clams,  gum- 
boots,  sea-cucumbers,  and  devil-fish,  found  on 
the  rocks  of  the  shore,  were  every-day  diet. 

Kalitan's  sister  and  Ted  became  great  friends. 
She  was  older  than  Kalitan,  and,  though  only 
fifteen,  was  soon  to  be  married  to  Tah-ge-ah, 
a  fine  young  Indian  who  was  ready  to  pay  high 
for  her,  which  was  not  strange,  for  she  was 
both  pretty  and  sweet. 

"  At  the  next  full  moon,"  said  Kalitan, 
"  there  will  be  a  potlatch,  and  Tanana  will  be 
sold  to  Tah-ge-ah.  He  says  he  will  give  four 
hundred  blankets  for  her,  and  my  uncle  is  well 
pleased.  Many  only  pay  ten  blankets  for  a 
wife,  but  of  course  we  would  not  sell  my  sister 
for  that    She  is  of  high  caste,  chiefs  daughter, 


68  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

niece,  and  sister,"  the  boy  spoke  proudly,  and 
Ted  answered : 

"  She's  so  pretty,  too.  She's  not  like  the 
Indian  girls  I  saw  at  Wrangel  and  Juneau. 
Why,  there  the  women  sat  around  as  dirty  as 
dogs  on  the  sidewalk,  and  didn't  seem  to  care 
how  they  looked.  They  had  baskets  to  sell, 
and  were  too  lazy  to  care  whether  any  one 
bought  them  or  not.  They  weren't  a  bit  like 
Tanana.     She's  as  pretty  as  a  Japanese." 

Kalitan  smiled,  well  pleased,  and  Ted  added, 
"  I  guess  the  Thlinkits  must  be  the  best  Indians 
in  Alaska." 

Kalitan  laughed  outright  at  this. 

"  Thlinkits  pretty  good,"  he  said.  "  Ta- 
nana good  girl.  She  learned  much  good  at 
the  mission  school,  marry  Tah-ge-ah,  and 
make  people  better.  She  can  weave  blankets, 
make  fine  baskets,  and  keep  house  like  a  white 
girl." 


The  Island  Home  of  Kalitan        69 

"  She's  all  right,"  said  Ted.  "  But,  Kalitan, 
what  is  a  potlatch?  " 

"  Potlatch  is  a  good-will  feast,"  said  his 
friend.  "  Very  fine  thing,  but  white  men  do 
not  like.  Say  Indian  feasts  are  all  bad.  Why 
is  it  bad  when  an  Indian  gives  away  all  his  goods 
for  others?  That  is  what  a  great  potlatch  is. 
When  white  men  give  us  whiskey  and  it  is 
drunk  too  much,  then  it  is  very  bad.  But  Tyee 
will  not  have  that  for  Tanana's  feast.  We  will 
drink  only  quass,1  as  my  people  made  it  before 
they  learned  evil  drinks  and  fire-water,  which 
make  them  crazy." 

"  I  guess  Tyee  Klake  was  right  when  he  said 
all  men  were  alike,"  said  Ted,  sagely.  "  It 
seems  to  me  that  there  are  good  and  bad  ones 
in  all  countries.     It's  a  pity  you  have  had  such 

1  Quass  is  a  native  drink,  harmless  and  acid,  made  with 
rye  and  water  fermented.  The  bad  Indians  mix  it  with 
sugar,  flour,  dried  apples,  and  hops,  and  make  a  terribly  intoxi- 
cating drink. 


70         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

bad  white  ones  here  in  Alaska,  but  I  guess  you 
have  had  good  ones,  too." 

"  Plenty  good,  plenty  bad,  Thlinkit  men  and 
Boston  men,"  said  Kalitan,  "  all  same." 


CHAPTER    VII 

TWILIGHT   TALES   AND   TOTEMS 

"  Once  a  small  girl  child  went  by  night  to 
bring  water.  In  the  skies  above  she  saw  the 
Moon  shining  brightly,  pale  and  placid,  and  she 
put  forth  her  tongue  at  it,  which  was  an  evil 
thing,  for  the  Moon  is  old,  and  a  Thlinkit  child 
should  show  respect  for  age.  So  the  Moon 
would  not  endure  so  rude  a  thing  from  a  girl 
child,  and  it  came  down  from  the  sky  and  took 
her  thither.  She  cried  out  in  fear  and  caught  at 
the  long  grass  to  keep  herself  from  going  up, 
but  the  Moon  was  strong  and  took  her  with 
her  water-bucket  and  her  bunch  of  grass,  and 
she  never  came  back.  Her  mother  wept  for 
her,  but  her  father  said :  '  Cease.  We  have 
71 


72  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

other  girl  children ;  she  is  now  wedded  to  the 
Moon;   to  him  we  need  not  give  a  potlatch.' 

"  You  may  see  her  still,  if  you  will  look  at 
the  Moon,  there,  grass  in  one  hand,  bucket  in 
the  other,  and  when  the  new  Moon  tips  to  one 
side  and  the  water  spills  from  the  clouds  and 
it  is  the  months  of  rain,  it  is  the  bad  Moon 
maiden  tipping  over  her  water-bucket  upon  the 
earth.  No  Thlinkit  child  would  dare  ever  to 
put  her  tongue  forth  at  the  Moon,  for  fear  of 
a  like  fate  to  that  of  Squi-ance,  the  Moon 
maiden." 

Tanana's  voice  was  soft  and  low,  and  she 
looked  very  pretty  as  she  sat  in  the  moonlight 
at  the  door  of  the  hut  and  told  Kalitan  and 
Ted  quaint  old  stories.  Ted  was  delighted 
with  her  tales,  and  begged  for  another  and  yet 
another,  and  Tanana  told  the  quaint  story  of 
Kagamil. 

"  A  mighty  toyon 1  dwelt  on  the  island 
1  Chieftain. 


Twilight  Tales  and  Totems         73 

of  Kagamil.  By  name  he  was  Kat-haya-koo 
chat,  and  he  was  of  great  strength  and  much 
to  be  feared.  He  had  long  had  a  death  feud 
with  people  of  the  next  totem,  but  the  bold 
warrior  Yakaga,  chieftain  of  the  tribe,  married 
the  toyon's  daughter,  and  there  was  no  more 
feud.  Zampa  was  the  son  of  Kat-haya-koochat, 
and  his  pride.  He  built  for  this  son  a  fine 
bidarka,1  and  the  boy  launched  it  on  the  sea. 
His  father  watched  him  sail  and  called  him 
to  return,  lest  evil  befall.  But  Zampa  heard  not 
his  father's  voice  and  pursued  diving  birds,2 
and,  lo !  he  was  far  from  land  and  the  dark 
fell.  He  sailed  to  the  nearest  shore  and  beheld 
the  village  of  Yakaga,  where  the  people  of 
his  sister's  husband  made  him  welcome,  though 
Yakaga  was  not  within  his  hut.  There  was 
feasting  and  merry-making,  and,  according  to 
their  custom,  he,  the  stranger,  was  given  a  chief- 
tain's daughter  to  wife,  and  her  name  was  Kitt- 
1  Canoe.  2  Ducks. 


74         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

a-youx;  and  Zampa  loved  her  and  she  him, 
and  he  returned  not  home.  But  Kitt-a-youx's 
father  liked  him  not,  and  treated  him  with 
rudeness  because  of  the  old  enmity  with  his 
Tyee  father,  so  Zampa  said  to  Kitt-a-youx: 
*  Let  us  go  hence.  We  cannot  be  happy  here. 
Let  us  go  from  your  father,  who  is  unfriendly 
to  me,  and  seek  the  barrabora  of  my  father, 
the  mighty  chief,  that  happiness  may  come  upon 
us/  and  Kitt-a-youx  said :  '  What  my  lord  says 
is  well.' 

"  Then  Zampa  placed  her  in  his  canoe,  and 
alone  beneath  the  stars  they  sailed  and  it  was 
well,  and  Zampa's  arm  was  strong  at  his  pad- 
dle. But,  lo !  they  heard  another  paddle,  and 
one  came  after  them,  and  soon  arrows  flew 
about  them,  arrows  swift  and  cruel,  and  one 
struck  his  paddle  from  his  hand  and  his  canoe 
was  overturned.  The  pursuer  came  and  placed 
Kitt-a-youx  in  his  canoe,  seeking,  too,  for 
Zampa,  but,  alas!   Zampa  was  drowned.    And 


Twilight  Tales  and  Totems         75 

when  his  pursuer  dragged  his  body  to  the  sur- 
face, he  gave  a  mighty  cry,  for,  lo !  it  was  his 
brother-in-law  whom  he  had  pursued,  for  he 
was  Yakaga.  Then  fearing  the  terrible  rage 
of  Zampa's  father,  he  dared  not  return  with 
the  body,  so  he  left  it  with  the  overturned  canoe 
in  the  kelp  and  weeds.  Kitt-a-youx  he  bore 
with  him  to  his  own  island.  There  she  was  sad 
as  the  sea-gull's  scream,  for  the  lord  she  loved 
was  dead.  And  her  father  gave  her  to  another 
toyon,  who  was  cruel  to  her,  and  her  life  was 
as  a  slave's,  and  she  loathed  her  life  until 
Zampa's  child  was  born  to  her,  and  for  it  she 
lived.  Alas,  it  was  a  girl  child  and  her  hus- 
band hated  it,  and  Kitt-a-youx  saw  nothing  for 
it  but  to  be  sold  as  a  slave  as  was  she  herself. 
And  she  looked  by  day  and  by  night  at  the  sea, 
and  its  cold,  cold  waves  seemed  warmer  to  her 
than  the  arms  of  men.  '  With  my  girl  child  I 
shall  go  hence,'  she  whispered  to  herself,  '  and 
the  Great  Unknown  Spirit  will  be  kind.' 


y6         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  So  by  night  she  stole  away  in  a  canoe  and 
steered  to  sea,  ere  she  knew  where  she  was, 
reaching  the  seaweeds  where  she  had  journeyed 
with  her  young  husband.  The  morning  broke, 
and  she  saw  the  weeds  and  the  kelp  where  her 
lover  had  gone  from  her  sight,  and,  with  a  glad 
sigh,  she  clasped  Zampa's  child  to  her  breast 
and  sank  down  among  the  weeds  where  he  had 
died.  So  her  tired  spirit  was  at  rest,  for  a 
woman  is  happier  who  dies  with  him  she 
loves. 

"  Now  Zampa's  father  had  found  his  boy's 
body  and  mourned  over  it,  and  buried  it  in  a 
mighty  cave,  the  which  he  had  once  made  for 
his  furs  and  stores.  With  it  he  placed  bows 
and  arrows  and  many  valuables  in  respect  for 
the  dead.  And  Zampa's  sister,  going  to  his 
funeral  feast,  fell  upon  a  stone  with  her  child, 
so  that  both  were  killed.  Then  broke  the  old 
chief's  heart.  Beside  her  brother  he  laid  her 
in  the  cave,  and  gave  orders  that  he  himself 


Twilight  Tales  and  Totems         77 

should  be  placed  there  as  well,  when  grief 
should  have  made  way  with  him.  Then  he  died 
of  sorrow  for  his  children,  and  his  people  in- 
terred him  in  his  burial  cave,  and  with  him  they 
put  much  wealth  and  blankets  and  weapons. 

"  When,  therefore,  the  people  of  his  tribe 
found  the  bodies  of  Kitt-a-youx  and  her  child 
among  the  kelp,  having  heard  of  her  love  for 
Zampa,  they  bore  them  to  the  same  cave,  and, 
wrapping  them  in  furs,  they  placed  Kitt-a-youx 
beside  her  beloved  husband3  and  in  her  burial 
she  found  her  home  and  felt  the  kindness  of  the 
Great  Spirit.  This,  then,  is  the  story  of  the 
burial  cave  of  Kagamil,  and  since  that  day  no 
man  dwelt  upon  the  island,  and  it  is  known  as 
the  '  island  of  the  dead.'  " 

"  I'd  like  to  see  it,  I  can  tell  you,"  said  Ted. 
"  Are  there  any  burial  caves  around  here?  " 

"  The  Thlinkits  do  not  bury  in  caves,"  said 
Tanana.  "  We  used  to  burn  our  dead,  but 
often  we  place  them  in  totem-poles." 


78  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  I  thought  those  great  poles  by  your  doors 
were  totems,"  said  Ted,  puzzled. 

11  Yes,"  said  the  girl.  "  They  are  caste  to- 
tems, and  all  who  are  of  any  rank  have  them. 
As  we  belong  to  the  Raven,  or  Bear,  or  Eagle 
clan,  we  have  the  carved  poles  to  show  our 
rank,  but  the  totem  of  the  dead  is  quite  differ- 
ent. It  does  not  stand  beside  the  door,  but  far 
away.  It  is  alone,  as  the  soul  of  the  dead  in 
whose  honour  it  is  made.  It  is  but  little  carved. 
A  square  hole  is  cut  at  the  back  of  the  pole, 
and  the  body  of  the  dead,  wrapped  in  a  matting 
of  cedar  bark,  is  placed  within,  a  board  being 
nailed  so  that  the  body  will  not  fall  to  the 
ground.  A  potlatch  is  given,  and  food  from 
the  feast  is  put  in  the  fire  for  the  dead  per- 
son." 

11  It  seems  queer  to  put  weapons  and  blankets 
and  things  to  eat  on  people's  graves,"  said  Ted. 
"  Why  do  they  doit?" 

"  Of  the  dead  we  know  nothing,"  said  Ta- 


Twilight  Tales  and  Totems         79 

nana.  "  Perhaps  the  warrior  spirit  wishes  his 
arrows  in  the  Land  of  the  Great  Unknown." 

"  Yes,  but  he  can't  come  back  for  them," 
persisted  Ted. 

"  At  Wrangel,  Boston  man  put  flowers  on 
his  girl's  grave,"  said  Kalitan,  drily.  "  She 
come  back  and  smell  posy?  " 

Having  no  answer  ready,  Ted  changed  the 
subject  and  asked : 

"  Why  do  you  have  the  raven  at  the  top  of 
your  totem  pole?  " 

"  Indian  cannot  marry  same  totem,"  said 
Kalitan.  "  My  father  was  eagle  totem,  my 
mother  was  raven  totem.  He  carve  her  totem 
at  the  top  of  the  pole,  then  his  totem  and  those 
of  the  family  are  carved  below.  The  greater 
the  family  the  taller  the  totem." 

"  How  do  you  get  these  totems?  "  demanded 
Ted. 

"  Clan  totems  we  take  from  our  parents,  but 
a  man  may  choose  his  own  totem.     Before  he 


80  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

becomes  a  man  he  must  go  alone  into  the  forest 
to  fast,  and  there  he  chooses  his  totem,  and  he 
is  brother  to  that  animal  all  his  life,  and  may 
not  kill  it.  When  he  comes  forth,  he  may  take 
part  in  all  the  ceremonies  of  his  tribe." 

11  Why,  it  is  something  like  knighthood  and 
the  vigil  at  arms  and  escutcheons,  and  all  those 
Round-Table  things,"  exclaimed  Ted,  in  de- 
light, for  he  dearly  loved  the  stirring  tales  of 
King  Arthur  and  his  knights  and  the  doughty 
deeds  of  Camelot. 

"  Tell  us  about  that,"  said  Kalitan,  so  Ted 
told  them  many  tales  in  the  moonlight,  as  they 
sat  beneath  the  shadows  of  the  quaint  and  curi- 
ous totem-poles  of  Kalitan's  tribe. 


CHAPTER    VIII 


THE    BERRY   DANCE 


Teddy's  month  upon  the  island  stretched 
out  into  two.  His  father  came  and  went,  find- 
ing the  boy  so  happy  and  well  that  he  left  him 
with  an  easy  mind.  Ted's  fair  skin  was  tanned 
to  a  warm  brown,  and,  clad  in  Indian  clothes, 
save  for  his  aureole  of  copper-coloured  hair, 
so  strong  a  contrast  to  the  straight  black  locks 
of  his  Indian  brothers,  he  could  hardly  be  told 
from  one  of  the  island  lads  who  roamed  all 
day  by  wood  and  shore.  They  called  him 
"  Yakso  pil  chicamin," *  and  all  the  village 
liked  him. 

Tanana's  marriage-feast  was  held,  and  she 
and  Tah-ge-ah  went  to  housekeeping  in  a  little 

T  Copper  hair. 
81 


82         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

hut,  where  the  one  room  was  as  clean  and  neat 
as  could  be,  and  not  a  bit  like  the  dirty  rooms 
of  some  of  the  natives.  Tanana  spent  all  her 
spare  time  weaving  beautiful  baskets,  for  her 
slim  fingers  were  very  skilful.  Some  of  the 
baskets  which  she  made  out  of  the  inner  bark 
of  the  willow-tree  were  woven  so  closely  that 
they  would  hold  water,  and  Teddy  never  tired 
of  watching  her  weave  the  gay  colours  in  and 
out,  nor  of  seeing  the  wonderful  patterns  grow. 
Tahgeah  would  take  them  to  the  mainland 
when  she  had  enough  made,  and  sell  them  to 
the  travellers  from  the  States.  Meantime  Tah- 
ge-ah  himself  was  very,  very  busy  carving  the 
totem-pole  for  his  new  home,  for  Tanana  was 
a  chieftain's  daughter,  and  he,  too,  was  of  high 
caste,  and  their  totem  must  be  carved  and  stand 
one  hundred  feet  high  beside  their  door,  lest 
they  be  reproached. 

Ted  also  enjoyed  seeing  old  Kala-kash  carve, 
for  he  was  the  finest  carver  among  the  Indians, 


The  Berry  Dance  83 

and  it  was  wonderful  to  see  him  cut  strange 
figures  out  of  bone,  wood,  horn,  fish-bones,  and 
anything  his  gnarled  old  fingers  could  get  hold 
of,  and  he  would  carve  grasshoppers,  bears, 
minnows,  whales,  sea-gulls,  babies,  or  idols. 
He  made,  too,  a  canoe  for  Ted,  a  real  Alaskan 
dugout,  shaping  the  shell  from  a  log  and  mak- 
ing it  soft  by  steam,  filling  the  hole  with  water 
and  throwing  in  red-hot  stones.  The  wood  was 
then  left  to  season,  and  Ted  could  hardly  wait 
patiently  until  sun  and  wind  and  rain  had  made 
his  precious  craft  seaworthy.  Then  it  was 
painted  with  paint  made  by  rubbing  a  certain 
rock  over  the  surface  of  a  coarse  stone  and  the 
powder  mixed  with  oil  or  water. 

At  last  it  was  done,  a  shapely  thing,  more 
beautiful  in  Ted's  eyes  than  any  launch  or  yacht 
he  had  ever  seen  at  home.  His  canoe  had  a 
carved  stern  and  a  sharp  prow  which  came  out 
of  the  water,  and  which  had  carved  upon  it  a 
fine  eagle.     Kalakash  had  not  asked  Ted  what 


84         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

his  totem  was,  but  supposing  that  the  American 
eagle  on  the  buttons  of  the  boy's  coat  was  his 
emblem,  had  carved  the  rampant  bird  upon  the 
canoe  as  the  boy's  totem.  Ted  learned  to  pad- 
dle and  to  fish,  never  so  well  as  Kalitan,  of 
course,  for  he  was  born  to  it,  but  still  he  did 
very  well,  and  enjoyed  it  hugely. 

Happily  waned  the  summer  days,  and  then 
came  the  time  of  the  berry  dance,  which  Kali- 
tan  had  spoken  of  so  often  that  Ted  was  very 
anxious  to  see  it 

The  salmon-berry  was  fully  ripe,  a  large  and 
luscious  berry,  found  in  two  colours,  yellow  and 
dark  red.  Besides  these  there  were  other  small 
berries,  maruskins,  like  the  New  England  dew- 
berries, huckleberries,  and  whortleberries. 

"  We  have  five  kinds  of  berries  on  our 
island,"  said  Kalitan.  "  All  good.  The  birds, 
flying  from  the  mainland,  first  brought  the 
seeds,  and  our  berries  grow  larger  than  almost 
any  place  in  Alaska." 


The  Berry  Dance  85 

"  They're  certainly  good,"  said  Ted,  his 
mouth  full  as  he  spoke.  "  These  salmon-ber- 
ries are  a  kind  of  a  half-way  between  our  black- 
berries and  strawberries.  I  never  saw  anything 
prettier  than  the  way  the  red  and  yellow  berries 
grow  so  thick  on  the  same  bush  —  " 

"  There  come  the  canoes!  "  interrupted  Kali- 
tan,  and  the  two  boys  ran  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  eager  to  be  the  first  to  greet  the  visitors. 
Tyee  Klake  was  giving  a  feast  to  the  people 
of  the  neighbouring  islands,  and  a  dozen  canoes 
glided  over  the  water  from  different  directions. 
The  canoes  were  all  gaily  decorated,  and  they 
came  swiftly  onward  to  the  weird  chant  of  the 
paddlers,  which  the  breeze  wafted  to  the  lis- 
teners' ears  in  a  monotonous  melody. 

Every  one  in  the  village  had  been  astir  since 
daybreak,  preparing  for  the  great  event.  Par- 
allel lines  had  been  strung  from  the  chief's 
house  to  the  shore,  and  from  these  were  hung 
gay  blankets,  pieces  of  bright  calico,  and  fes- 


86         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

toons  of  leaves  and  flowers.  As  the  canoes 
landed  their  occupants,  the  dancers  thronged 
to  welcome  their  guests.  The  great  drum 
sounded  its  loud  note,  and  the  dancers,  arrayed 
in  wonderful  blankets  woven  in  all  manner  of 
fanciful  designs  and  trimmed  with  long  woollen 
fringes,  swayed  back  and  forth,  up  and  down, 
to  and  fro,  in  a  very  graceful  manner,  keeping 
time  to  the  music. 

In  the  centre  of  the  largest  canoe  stood  the 
Tyee  of  a  neighbouring  island,  a  tall  Indian, 
dressed  in  a  superb  blanket  with  fringe  a  foot 
long,  fringed  leggins  and  moccasins  of  walrus 
hide,  and  the  chiefs  hat  to  show  his  rank.  It 
was  a  peculiar  head-dress  half  a  foot  high, 
trimmed  in  down  and  feathers. 

The  Tyee,  in  perfect  time  to  the  music, 
swayed  back  and  forth,  never  ceasing  for  a 
moment,  shaking  his  head  so  that  the  down 
was  wafted  in  a  snowy  cloud  all  over  him. 

As  the  canoes  reached  the  shallows,  the  shore 


The  Berry  Dance  87 

Indians  dashed  into  the  water  to  draw  them 
up  to  land,  and  the  company  was  joyously  re- 
ceived. Teddy  was  delighted,  for  in  one  of 
the  canoes  was  his  father,  whom  he  had  not 
seen  for  several  weeks.  After  the  greetings 
were  over,  the  dancers  arranged  themselves  in 
opposite  lines,  men  on  one  side,  women  on  the 
other,  and  swayed  their  bodies  while  the  drum 
kept  up  its  unceasing  tum-tum-tum. 

"  It's  a  little  bit  like  square  dances  at  home," 
said  Ted.  "  It's  ever  so  pretty,  isn't  it?  First 
they  sway  to  the  right,  then  to  the  left,  over 
and  over  and  over;  then  they  bend  their  bodies 
forward  and  backward  without  bending  their 
knees,  then  sway  again,  and  bend  to  one  side 
and  then  the  other,  singing  all  the  time.  Isn't 
it  odd,  father?" 

"  It  certainly  is,  but  it's  very  graceful,"  said 
Mr.  Strong.  "  Some  of  the  girls  are  quite 
pretty,  gentle-looking  creatures,  but  the  older 
women  are  ugly." 


88  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  The  very  old  women  look  like  the  mum- 
mies in  the  museum  at  home,"  said  Ted. 
"  There's  one  old  woman,  over  a  hundred  years 
old,  whose  skin  is  like  a  piece  of  parchment, 
and  she  wears  the  hideous  lip-button  which 
most  of  the  Thlinkits  have  stopped  using.  Kali- 
tan  says  all  the  women  used  to  wear  them.  The 
girls  used  to  make  a  cut  in  their  chins  between 
the  lip  and  the  chin,  and  put  in  a  piece  of  wood, 
changing  it  every  few  days  for  a  piece  a  little 
larger  until  the  opening  was  stretched  like  a 
second  mouth.  When  they  grew  up,  a  wooden 
button  like  the  bowl  of  a  spoon  was  set  in  the 
hole  and  constantly  enlarged.  The  largest  I 
have  seen  was  three  inches  long.  Isn't  it  a 
curious  idea,  father?" 

"  It  certainly  is,  but  there  is  no  telling  what 
women  will  admire.  A  Chinese  lady  binds  her 
feet,  and  an  American  her  waist;  a  Maori 
woman  slits  her  nose,  and  an  English  belle 
pierces  her  ears.    It's  on  the  same  principle  that 


The  Berry  Dance  89 

your  Thlinkit  friends  slit  their  chins  for  the  lip- 
button." 

"  I'm  mighty  glad  they  don't  do  it  now,  for 
Tanana's  as  pretty  as  a  pink,  and  it  would  be 
a  shame  to  spoil  her  face  that  way,"  said  Ted. 
"  The  dancing  has  stopped,  father;  let's  see 
what  they'll  do  next.     There  comes  Kalitan." 

A  feast  of  berries  was  to  follow  the  dance, 
and  Kalitan  led  Mr.  Strong  and  Ted  to  the 
chief's  house,  which  was  gaily  decorated  with 
blankets  and  bits  of  bright  cloth.  A  table  cov- 
ered with  a  cloth  was  laid  around  three  sides 
of  the  room,  and  on  this  was  spread  hardtack 
and  huge  bowls  of  berries  of  different  colours. 
These  were  beaten  up  with  sugar  into  a  foamy 
mixture,  pink,  purple,  and  yellow,  according 
to  the  colour  of  the  berries,  which  tasted  good 
and  looked  pretty. 

Ted  and  Kalitan  had  helped  gather  the  ber- 
ries, and  their  appetites  were  quite  of  the  best. 
Mr.  Strong  smiled  to  see  how  the  once  fussy 


90         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

little  gentleman  helped  himself  with  a  right 
good-will  to  the  Indian  dainties  of  his  friends. 

Many  pieces  of  goods  had  been  provided  for 
the  potlatch,  and  these  were  given  away,  given 
and  received  with  dignified  politeness.  There 
was  laughing  and  merriment  with  the  feast, 
and  when  it  was  all  over,  the  canoes  floated 
away  as  they  had  come,  into  the  sunset,  which 
gilded  all  the  sea  to  rosy,  golden  beauty. 

Ted's  share  of  the  potlatch  was  a  beautiful 
blanket  of  Tanana's  weaving,  and  he  was  de- 
lighted beyond  measure. 

"  You're  a  lucky  boy,  Ted,"  said  his  father. 
"  People  pay  as  high  as  sixty-five  dollars  for 
an  Alaskan  blanket,  and  not  always  a  perfect 
one  at  that.  Many  of  the  Indians  are  using 
dyed  yarns  to  wreave  them,  but  yours  is  the 
genuine  article,  made  from  white  goat's  wool, 
long  and  soft,  and  dyed  only  in  the  native  reds 
and  blacks.  We  shall  have  to  do  something 
nice  for  Tanana  when  you  leave." 


The  Berry  Dance  gi 

"  I'd  like  to  give  her  something,  and  Kali- 
tan,  too."  Ted's  face  looked  very  grave. 
"  When  do  I  have  to  go,  father?  " 

"  Right  away,  I'm  afraid,"  was  the  reply. 
"  I've  let  you  stay  as  long  as  possible,  and  now 
we  must  start  for  our  northern  trip,  if  you  are 
to  see  anything  at  all  of  mines  and  Esquimos 
before  we  start  home.  The  mail-steamer  passes 
Nuchek  day  after  to-morrow,  and  we  must  go 
over  there  in  time  to  take  it." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Ted,  forlornly.  He  wanted 
to  see  the  mines  and  all  the  wonderful  things 
of  the  far  north,  but  he  hated  to  leave  his  In- 
dian friends. 

"What's  the  trouble,  Ted?"  His  father 
laid  his  hand  on  his  shoulder,  disliking  to  see 
the  bright  face  so  clouded. 

"  I  was  only  thinking  of  Kalitan,"  said 
Ted. 

"  Suppose  we  take  Kalitan  with  us,"  said 
Mr.  Strong. 


92  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"Oh,  daddy,  could  we  really  ?"  Ted 
jumped  in  excitement. 

"  I'll  ask  the  Tyee  if  he  will  lend  him  to  us 
for  a  month,"  said  Mr.  Strong,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  it  was  decided,  and  Ted,  with  one  great 
bear's  hug  to  thank  his  father,  rushed  off  to 
find  his  friend  and  tell  him  the  glorious  news. 


CHAPTER    IX 

ON    THE    WAY    TO    NOME 

'"  Well,  boys,  we're  off  for  a  long  sail,  and 
I'm  afraid  you  will  be  rather  tired  with  the 
steamer  before  you  are  done  with  her,"  said 
Mr.  Strong.  They  had  boarded  the  mail- 
steamer  late  the  night  before,  and,  going  right 
to  bed,  had  wakened  early  next  day  and  rushed 
on  deck  to  find  the  August  sun  shining  in  bril- 
liant beauty,  the  islands  quite  out  of  sight,  and 
nought  but  sea  and  sky  around  and  above  them. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know;  we'll  find  something 
to  do,"  said  Teddy.  "  You'll  have  to  tell  us 
lots  about  the  places  we  pass,  and,  if  there  aren't 
any  other  boys  on  board,  Kalitan  and  I  will 
be  together.     What's  the  first  place  we  stop?  " 

"  We  passed  the  Kenai  Peninsula  in  the 
93 


94  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

night.  I  wish  you  could  have  caught  a  glimpse 
of  some  of  the  waterfalls,  volcanoes,  and  gla- 
ciers. They  are  as  fine  as  any  in  Alaska,"  said 
Mr.  Strong.  "  Our  next  stop  will  be  Kadiak 
Island." 

"  Kadiak  Island  wTas  once  near  the  main- 
land," said  Kalitan.  "  There  was  only  the  nar- 
rowest passage  of  water,  but  a  great  Kenai 
otter  tried  to  swim  the  pass,  and  was  caught 
fast.  He  struggled  so  that  he  made  it  wider 
and  wider,  and  at  last  pushed  Kadiak  way  out 
to  sea." 

"  He  must  have  been  a  whopper,"  said  Ted, 
11  to  push  it  so  far  away.     Is  that  the  island?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father.  "  There  are  no 
splendid  forests  on  the  island  as  there  are  on 
the  mainland,  but  the  grasses  are  superb,  for  the 
fog  and  rain  here  keeps  them  green  as  emerald." 

"  What  a  queer  canoe  that  Indian  has !  "  ex- 
claimed Ted.  "  It  isn't  a  bit  like  yours,  Kali- 
tan." 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  95 

"  It  is  bidarka"  said  Kalitan.  "  Kadiak 
people  make  canoe  out  of  walrus  hide.  They 
stretch  it  over  frames  of  driftwood.  It  holds 
two  people.  They  sit  in  small  hatch  with  apron 
all  around  their  bodies,  and  the  bidarka  goes 
over  the  roughest  sea  and  floats  like  a  bladder. 
Big  bidarka  called  an  oomiak,  and  holds  whole 
family." 

"  Some  one  has  called  the  bidarkas  the  '  Cos- 
sacks of  the  sea,'  "  said  Mr.  Strong.  "  They 
skim  along  like  swallows,  and  are  as  perfectly 
built  as  any  vessel  I  ever  saw." 

"  What  are  those  huge  buildings  on  the  small 
island?"  asked  Ted,  as  the  steamer  wound 
through  the  shallows. 

"  Ice-houses,"  said  his  father.  "  Before  peo- 
ple learned  to  manufacture  ice,  immense  car- 
goes were  shipped  from  here  to  as  far  south 
as  San  Francisco." 

"  It  was  fun  to  see  them  go  fishing  for  ice 
from  the   steamer  when  we  came  up   to  Ska- 


c6  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

guay,"  said  Ted.  "  The  sailors  went  out  in  a 
boat,  slipped  a  net  around  a  block  of  ice  and 
towed  it  to  the  side  of  the  ship,  then  it  was 
hitched  to  a  derrick  and  swung  on  deck." 

"  Huh !  "  said  Kalitan.  "  What  people  want 
ice  for  stored  up?  Think  they'd  store  sun- 
shine !  " 

"  If  you  could  invent  a  way  to  do  that,  you 
could  make  a  fortune,  my  boy,"  said  Mr. 
Strong,  laughing.  "  The  next  place  of  any 
interest  is  Karluk.  It's  around  on  the  other 
side  of  the  island  in  Shelikoff  Strait,  and  is 
famous  for  its  salmon  canneries.  Nearly  half 
of  the  entire  salmon  pack  of  Alaska  comes  from 
Kadiak  Island,  most  of  the  fish  coming  from 
the  Karluk  River." 

"  Very  bad  for  Indians,"  said  Kalitan. 
"  Used  to  have  plenty  fish.  Tyee  Klake  said 
salmon  used  to  come  up  this  river  in  shoal  six- 
teen miles  long,  and  now  Boston  men  take  them 
all." 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  97 

"  It  does  seem  a  pity  that  the  Indians  don't 
even  have  a  chance  to  earn  their  living  in  the 
canneries,"  said  Mr.  Strong.  "  The  largest 
cannery  in  the  world  is  at  Karluk.  There  are 
thousands  of  men  employed,  and  in  one  year 
over  three  million  salmon  were  packed,  yet  with 
all  this  work  for  busy  hands  to  do,  the  canneries 
employ  Chinese,  Greek,  Portuguese,  and  Ameri- 
can workmen  in  preference  to  the  Indians, 
bringing  them  by  the  shipload  from  San  Fran- 
cisco." 

"What  other  places  do  we  pass?"  asked 
Ted. 

"  A  lot  of  very  interesting  ones,  and  I  wish 
we  could  coast  along,  stopping  wherever  we  felt 
like  it,"  said  Mr.  Strong.  "  The  Shumagin 
Islands  are  where  Bering,  the  great  discoverer 
and  explorer,  landed  in  1741  to  bury  one  of 
his  crew.  Codfish  were  found  there,  and  Cap- 
tain Cook,  in  his  '  Voyages  and  Discoveries,' 
speaks  of  the  same  fish.     There  is  a  famous 


98  Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

fishery  there  now  called  the  Davidson  Banks, 
and  the  codfishing  fleet  has  its  headquarters  on 
Popoff  Island.  Millions  of  codfish  are  caught 
here  every  year.  These  islands  are  also  a  fa- 
vourite haunt  of  the  sea  otter.  Belofsky,  at  the 
foot  of  Mt.  Pavloff,  is  the  centre  of  the  trade." 

"What  kind  of  fur  is  otter?"  asked  Ted, 
whose  mind  was  so  inquiring  that  his  father 
often  called  him  the  "  living  catechism." 

"  It  is  the  court  fur  of  China  and  Russia,  and 
at  one  time  the  common  people  were  forbidden 
by  law  to  wear  it,"  said  Mr.  Strong.  "  It  is  a 
rich,  purplish  brown  sprinkled  with  silver-tipped 
hairs,  and  the  skins  are  very  costly." 

"  At  one  time  any  one  could  have  otter,"  said 
Kalitan.  "  We  hunted  them  with  spears  and 
bows  and  arrows.  Now  they  are  very  few,  and 
we  find  them  only  in  dangerous  spots,  hiding 
on  rocks  or  floating  kelp.  Sometimes  the  hunt- 
ers have  to  lie  in  hiding  for  days  watching  them. 
Only  Indians  can  kill  the  otter.     Boston  men 


MOUNT    SHISHALDIN. 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  99 

can  if  they  marry  Indian  women.     That  makes 
them  Indian." 

"  Rather  puts  otter  at  a  discount  and  women 
at  a  premium,"  laughed  Mr.  Strong.  "  Now 
we  pass  along  near  the  Alaska  peninsula,  past 
countless  isles  and  islets,  through  the  Fox 
Islands  to  Unalaska,  and  then  into  the  Bering 
Sea.  One  of  the  most  interesting  things  in  this 
region  is  called  the  '  Pacific  Ring  of  Fire,'  a 
chain  of  volcanoes  which  stretches  along  the 
coast.  Often  the  passengers  can  see  from  the 
ships  at  night  a  strange  red  glow  over  the  sky, 
and  know  that  the  fire  mountains  are  burning. 
The  most  beautiful  of  these  volcanoes  is  Mt. 
Shishaldin,  nearly  nine  thousand  feet  high,  and 
almost  as  perfect  a  cone  in  shape  as  Fuji  Yama, 
which  the  Japanese  love  so  much  and  call  '  the 
Honourable  Mountain.'  At  Unalaska  or  Ilin- 
link,  the  *  curving  beach,'  we  stop.  If  we  could 
stay  over  for  awhile,  there  are  a  great  many 
interesting  things  we  could  see;    an  old  Greek 


ioo         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

church  and  the  government  school  are  in  the 
town,  and  Bogoslov's  volcano  and  the  sea-lion 
rookeries  are  on  the  island  of  St.  John,  which 
rose  right  up  out  of  the  sea  in  1796  after  a  day's 
roaring  and  rumbling  and  thundering.  In  18 15 
there  was  a  similar  performance,  and  from  time 
to  time  the  island  has  grown  larger  ever  since. 
One  fine  day  in  1883  there  was  a  great  shower 
of  ashes,  and,  when  the  clouds  had  rolled  away, 
two  peaks  were  seen  where  only  one  had  been, 
separated  by  a  sandy  isthmus.  This  last  was 
reduced  to  a  fine  thread  by  the  earthquake  of 
1 89 1,  and  I  don't  know  what  new  freaks  it 
may  have  developed  by  now.  I  know  some 
friends  of  mine  landed  there  not  long  ago  and 
cooked  eggs  over  the  jets  of  steam  which  gush 
out  of  the  mountainside.  Did  you  ever  hear  of 
using  a  volcano  for  a  cook-stove?  " 

"  Well,  I  should  say  not,"  said  Ted,  amused. 
"  These  Alaskan  volcanoes  are  great  things." 

"  The  one  called  Makushin  has  a  crater  filled 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  ioi 

with  snow  in  a  part  of  which  there  is  always  a 
cloud  of  sulphurous  smoke.  That's  making 
extremes  meet,  isn't  it?  " 

"  Yehl J  made  many  strange  things,"  said 
Kalitan,  who  had  been  taking  in  all  this  infor- 
mation even  more  eagerly  than  Teddy.  "  He 
first  dwelt  on  Nass  River,  and  turned  two  blades 
of  grass  into  the  first  man  and  woman.  Then 
the  Thlinkits  grew  and  prospered,  till  darkness 
fell  upon  the  earth.  A  Thlinkit  stole  the  sun 
and  hid  it  in  a  box,  but  Yehl  found  it  and  set 
it  so  high  in  the  heavens  that  none  could  touch 
it.  Then  the  Thlinkits  grew  and  spread  abroad. 
But  a  great  flood  came,  and  all  were  swept  away 
save  two,  who  tossed  long  upon  the  flood  on  a 
raft  of  logs  until  Yehl  pitied,  and  carried  them 
to  Mt.  Edgecomb,  where  they  dwelt  until  the 
waters  fell." 

"  Old  Kala-kash  tells  this  story,  and  he  says 

1  Yehl,  embodied  in  the  raven,  is  the  Thlinkit  Great 
Spirit. 


I02         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

that  one  of  these  people,  when  very  old,  went 
down  through  the  crater  of  the  mountain,  and, 
given  long  life  by  Yehl,  stays  there  always  to 
hold  up  the  earth  out  of  the  water.  But  the 
other  lives  in  the  crater  as  the  Thunder  Bird, 
Hahtla,  whose  wing-flap  is  the  thunder  and 
whose  glance  is  the  lightning.  The  osprey  is 
his  totem,  and  his  face  glares  in  our  blankets 
and  totems." 

"  I've  wondered  what  that  fierce  bird  was," 
said  Teddy,  who  was  always  quite  carried  away 
with  Kalitan's  strange  legends. 

"  Well,  what  else  do  we  see  on  the  way  to 
Nome,  father?  " 

"  The  most  remarkable  thing  happening  in 
the  Bering  Sea  is  the  seal  industry,  but  I  do  not 
think  we  pass  near  enough  to  the  islands  to  see 
any  of  that.  You'd  better  run  about  and  see 
the  ship  now,"  and  the  boys  needed  no  second 
permission. 

It   was   not   many   days   before   they   knew 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  103 

everybody  on  board,  from  captain  to  deck 
hands,  and  were  prime  favourites  with  them 
all.  Ted  and  Kalitan  enjoyed  every  moment. 
There  was  always  something  new  to  see  or  hear, 
and  ere  they  reached  their  journey's  end,  they 
had  heard  all  about  seals  and  sealing,  although 
the  famous  Pribylov  Islands  were  too  far  to 
the  west  of  the  vessel's  route  for  them  to  see 
them.  They  sighted  the  United  States  revenue 
cutter  which  plies  about  the  seal  islands  to  keep 
off  poachers,  for  no  one  is  allowed  to  kill  seals 
or  to  land  on  this  government  reservation  ex- 
cept from  government  vessels.  The  scent  of 
the  rookeries,  where  millions  of  seals  have  been 
killed  in  the  last  hundred  years,  is  noticed  far 
out  at  sea,  and  often  the  barking  of  the  animals 
can  be  heard  by  passing  vessels. 

"Why  is  sealskin  so  valuable,  father?" 
asked  Ted. 

"  It  has  always  been  admired  because  it  is  so 
warm  and  soft,"  replied  Mr.  Strong.     "  All  the 


104         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

ladies  fancy  it,  and  it  never  seems  to  go  out  of 
fashion.  There  was  a  time,  when  the  Pribylov 
Islands  were  first  discovered,  that  sealskins  were 
so  plentiful  that  they  sold  in  Alaska  for  a  dollar 
apiece.  Hunters  killed  so  many,  killing  old  and 
young,  that  soon  there  were  scarcely  any  left, 
so  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Russian  government 
forbidding  any  killing  for  five  years.  Since  the 
Americans  have  owned  Alaska  they  have  pro- 
tected the  seals,  allowing  them  to  be  killed  only 
at  certain  times,  and  only  male  seals  from  two 
to  four  years  old  are  killed.  The  Indians  are 
always  the  killers,  and  are  wonderfully  swift  and 
clever,  never  missing  a  blow  and  always  killing 
instantly,  so  that  there  is  almost  no  suffering." 

"  How  do  they  know  where  to  find  the 
seals?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  For  half  the  year  the  seals  swim  about  the 
sea,  but  in  May  they  return  to  their  favourite 
haunts.  In  these  rookeries  families  of  them 
herd  on  the  rocks,  the  male  staying  at  home 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  105 

with  his  funny  little  black  puppies,  while  the 
mother  swims  about  seeking  food.  The  seals 
are  very  timid,  and  will  rush  into  the  water 
at  the  least  strange  noise.  A  story  is  told  that 
the  barking  of  a  little  pet  dog  belonging  to  a 
Russian  at  one  of  the  rookeries  lost  him  a  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  for  the  seals  took  fright 
and  scurried  away  before  any  one  could  say 
'Jack  Robinson !'" 

"  Rather  an  expensive  pup !  "  commented 
Ted.     "  But  what  about  the  seals,  daddy?  n 

"  You  seem  to  think  I  am  an  encyclopaedia 
on  the  seal  question,"  said  his  father.  "  There 
is  not  much  else  to  tell  you." 

"  How  can  they  manage  always  to  kill  the 
right  ones?  "  demanded  Ted. 

"  The  gay  bachelor  seals  herd  together  away 
from  the  rest  and  sleep  at  night  on  the  rocks. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  Aleuts  slip  in  between 
them  and  the  herd  and  drive  them  slowly  to 
the  killing-ground,  where  they  are  quickly  killed 


106         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

and  skinned  and  the  skins  taken  to  the  salting- 
house.  The  Indians  use  the  flesh  and  blubber, 
and  the  climate  is  such  that  before  another  year 
the  hollow  bones  are  lost  in  the  grass  and 
earth." 

"  What  becomes  of  the  skins  after  they  are 
salted?" 

"  They  are  usually  sent  to  London,  where 
they  are  prepared  for  market.  The  work  is  all 
done  by  hand,  which  is  one  reason  that  they 
are  so  expensive.  They  are  first  worked  in  saw- 
dust, cleaned,  scraped,  washed,  shaved,  plucked, 
dyed  with  a  hand-brush  from  eight  to  twelve 
times,  washed  again  and  freed  from  the  least 
speck  of  grease  by  a  last  bath  in  hot  sawdust 
or  sand." 

"  I  don't  wonder  a  sealskin  coat  costs  so 
much,"  said  Ted,  "  if  they  have  got  to  go 
through  all  that  performance.  I  wish  we  could 
have  seen  the  islands,  but  I'd  hate  to  see  the 
seals  killed.     It  doesn't  seem  like  hunting  just 


On  the  Way  to  Nome  107 

to  knock  them  on  the  head.  It's  too  much  like 
the  stock-yards  at  home." 

"  Yes,  but  it's  a  satisfaction  to  know  that 
it's  done  in  the  easiest  possible  way  for  the 
animals. 

"  What  a  lot  you  are  learning  way  up  here 
in  Alaska,  aren't  you,  son?  To-morrow  we'll  be 
at  Nome,  and  then  your  head  will  be  so  stuffed 
with  mines  and  mining  that  you  will  forget  all 
about  everything  else." 

11  I  don't  want  to  forget  any  of  it,"  said  Ted. 
"  It's  all  bully." 


CHAPTER    X 

IN   THE    GOLD    COUNTRY 

A  LOW,  sandy  beach,  without  a  tree  to  break 
its  level,  rows  of  plain  frame-houses,  some  tents 
and  wooden  shanties  scattered  about,  the  surf 
breaking  over  the  shore  in  splendid  foam,  — 
this  was  Teddy's  first  impression  of  Nome. 
They  had  sailed  over  from  St.  Michael's  to 
see  the  great  gold-fields,  and  both  the  boys  were 
full  of  eagerness  to  be  on  land.  It  seemed, 
however,  as  if  their  desires  were  not  to  be  real- 
ized, for  landing  at  Nome  is  a  difficult  matter. 

Nome  is  on  the  south  shore  of  that  part  of 
Alaska  known  as  Seward  Peninsula,  and  it  Has 
no  harbour.  It  is  on  the  open  seacoast  and 
catches  all  the  fierce  storms  that  sweep  north- 
ward   over    Bering    Sea.      Generally    seacoast 

108 


In  the  Gold  Country  109 

towns  are  built  in  certain  spots  because  there 
is  a  harbour,  but  Nome  was  not  really  built, 
it  "  jes'  growed,"  for,  when  gold  was  found 
there,  the  miners  sat  down  to  gather  the  harvest, 
caring  nothing  about  a  harbour. 

Ships  cannot  go  within  a  mile  of  land,  and 
passengers  have  to  go  ashore  in  small  lighters. 
Sometimes  when  they  arrive,  they  cannot  go 
ashore  at  all,  but  have  to  wait  several  days, 
taking  refuge  behind  a  small  island  ten  miles 
away,  lest  they  drag  their  anchors  and  be  dashed 
to  pieces  on  the  shore. 

There  had  been  a  tremendous  storm  at  Nome 
the  day  before  Ted  arrived,  and  landing  was 
more  difficult  than  usual,  but,  impatient  as  the 
boys  were,  at  last  it  seemed  safe  to  venture,  and 
the  party  left  the  steamer  to  be  put  on  a  rough 
barge,  flat-bottomed  and  stout,  which  was 
hauled  by  cable  to  shore  until  it  grounded  on 
the  sands.  They  were  then  put  in  a  sort  of 
wooden  cage,  let  down  by  chains  from  a  huge 


no         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

wooden  beam,  and  swung  round  in  the  air  like 
the  unloading  cranes  of  a  great  city,  over  the 
surf  to  a  high  platform  on  the  land. 

"  Well,  this  is  a  new  way  to  land,"  cried  Ted, 
who  had  been  rather  quiet  during  the  perform- 
ance, and  his  father  thought  a  trifle  fright- 
ened. "  It's  a  sort  of  a  balloon  ascension,  isn't 
it?" 

"  It  must  be  rather  hard  for  the  miners,  who 
have  been  waiting  weeks  for  their  mail,  when 
the  boat  can't  land  her  bags  at  all,"  said  Mr. 
Strong.  "  That  sometimes  happens.  From  No- 
vember to  May,  Nome  is  cut  off  from  the  world 
by  snow  and  ice.  The  only  news  they  receive 
is  by  the  monthly  mail  when  it  comes. 

"  Over  at  Kronstadt  the  Russians  have  ice- 
breaking  boats  which  keep  the  Baltic  clear 
enough  of  ice  for  navigation,  and  plow  their 
way  through  ice  fourteen  feet  thick  for  two 
hundred  miles.     The  Nome  miners  are  very 


In  the  Gold  Country  1 1 1 

anxious  for  the  government  to  try  this  ice-boat 
service  at  Nome." 

"  Why  did  people  settle  here  in  such  a  forlorn 
place?"  asked  Ted,  as  they  made  their  way 
to  the  town,  which  they  found  anything  but 
civilized.  "  I  like  the  Indian  houses  on  the 
island  better  than  this." 

"  Your  island  is  more  picturesque,"  said  Mr. 
Strong,  "  but  people  came  here  for  what  they 
could  get. 

"  In  1898  gold  was  discovered  on  Anvil 
Creek,  which  runs  into  Snake  River,  and  this 
turned  people's  eyes  in  the  direction  of  Nome. 
Miners  rushed  here  and  set  to  work  in  the 
gulches  inland,  but  it  was  not  till  the  summer 
of  1899  tnat  g°ld  was  found  on  the  beach.  A 
soldier  from  the  barracks  —  you  know  this  is 
part  of  a  United  States  Military  Reservation  — 
found  gold  while  digging  a  well  near  the  beach, 
and  an  old  miner  took  out  $1,200  worth  in 
twenty  days.    Then  a  perfect  frenzy  seized  the 


H2         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

people.  They  flocked  to  Nome  from  far  and 
near;  they  camped  on  the  beach  in  hundreds 
and  staked  their  claims.  Between  one  and  two 
thousand  men  were  at  work  on  the  beach  at  one 
time,  yet  so  good-natured  were  they  that  no 
quarrels  seem  to  have  occurred.  Doctors,  law- 
yers, barkeepers,  and  all  dropped  their  business 
and  went  to  rocking,  as  they  call  beach-mining." 

"  Oh,  dad,  let's  hurry  and  go  and  see  it," 
cried  Ted,  as  they  hurried  through  their  dinner 
at  the  hotel.  "  I  thought  gold  came  out  of  deep 
mines  like  copper,  and  had  to  be  melted  out  or 
something,  but  this  seems  to  be  different.  Do 
they  just  walk  along  the  beach  and  pick  it  up? 
I  wish  I  could." 

"  Well,  it's  not  quite  so  simple  as  that,"  said 
Mr.  Strong,  laughing.  "  We'll  go  and  see,  and 
then  you'll  understand,"  and  they  went  down 
the  crooked  streets  to  the  sandy  beach. 

Men  were  standing  about  talking  and  laugh- 
ing, others  working  hard.    All  manner  of  men 


"'let's  watch  those  two  men.     they  have  evidently 

STAKED   A    CLAIM    TOGETHER.'" 


In  the  Gold  Country  113 

were  there  scattered  over  the  tundra,1  and  Ted 
became  interested  in  two  who  were  working 
together  in  silence. 

"  What  are  they  doing?  "  he  asked  his  father. 
"  I  can't  see  how  they  expect  to  get  anything 
worth  having  out  of  this  mess." 

"  Beach-mining  is  quite  different  from  any 
other,"  said  his  father.  "  Let's  watch  those 
two  men.  They  have  evidently  staked  a  claim 
together,  which  means  that  nobody  but  these 
two  can  work  on  the  ground  they  have  staked 
out,  and  that  they  must  share  all  the  gold  they 
find.  They  came  here  to  prospect,  and  evi- 
dently found  a  block  of  ground  which  suited 
them.  They  then  dug  a  prospect  hole  down 
two  to  five  feet  until  they  struck  *  bedrock,' 
which  happens  to  be  clay  around  here.  They 
passed  through  several  layers  of  sand  and 
gravel  before  reaching  this,  and  these  were  care- 
fully examined  to  see  how  much  gold  they  con- 
1  The  name  given  to  the  boggy  soil  of  the  beach. 


114        Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

tained.  Upon  reaching  a  layer  which  seemed 
to  be  a  good  one,  the  gravel  on  top  was  stripped 
off  and  thrown  aside  and  the  '  pay  streak ' 
worked  with  the  rocker." 

1  *  What  is  that?"  asked  Ted,  who  was  all 
ears,  while  Kalitan  was  taking  in  everything 
with  his  sharp  black  eyes. 

"  That  arrangement  that  looks  like  a  square 
pan  on  a  saw-buck  is  the  rocker.  The  rockers 
usually  have  copper  bottoms,  and  there  is  a 
great  demand  for  sheet  copper  at  Nome,  but 
often  there  is  not  enough  of  it,  and  the  miners 
have  been  known  to  cover  them  with  silver 
coins.  That  man  you  are  watching  has  silver 
dollars  in  his,  about  fifty,  I  should  say.  It  seems 
extravagant,  doesn't  it,  but  he'll  take  out  many 
times  that  amount  if  he  has  good  luck." 

The  man,  who  had  glanced  up  at  them, 
smiled  at  that  and  said : 

"  And,  if  I  don't  have  luck,  I'm  broke,  any- 
how, so  fifty  or  sixty  plunks  won't  make  much 


In  the  Gold  Country  115 

difference.  You  going  to  be  a  miner,  young- 
ster?" 

"  Not  this  trip,"  said  Ted,  with  a  smile. 
"  Say,  I'd  like  to  know  how  you  get  the  gold 
out  with  that." 

11  At  first  we  used  to  put  a  blanket  in  the 
rocker,  and  wash  the  pay  dirt  on  that.  Our 
prospect  hole  has  water  in  it,  and  we  can  use 
it  over  and  over.  Some  of  the  holes  are  dry, 
and  there  the  men  have  to  pack  their  pay  dirt 
down  to  the  shore  and  use  surf  water  for  wash- 
ing. Most  of  our  gold  is  so  fine  that  the 
blanket  didn't  stop  it,  so  now  we  use  '  quick.' 
I  reckon  you'd  call  it  mercury,  but  we  call  it 
quick.  You  see,  it  saves  time,  and  work-time 
up  here  is  so  short,  on  account  of  winter  setting 
in  so  early,  that  we  have  to  save  up  our  spare 
minutes  and  not  waste  'em  on  long  words." 

Ted  grinned  cheerfully  and  asked:  "  What 
do  you  do  with  the  quick?" 

s<  We  paint  it  over  the  bottom  of  the  rocker, 


Ii6         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

and  it  acts  like  a  charm  and  catches  every  speck 
of  gold  that  comes  its  way  as  the  dirt  is  washed 
over  it.  The  quick  and  the  gold  make  a  sort 
of  amalgam." 

"  But  how  do  you  get  at  the  gold  after  it 
amalgams,  or  whatever  you  call  it?"  asked 
Ted. 

"  Sure  we  fry  it  in  the  frying-pan,  and  it's 
elegant  pancakes  it  makes,"  said  the  man.  "  See 
here,"  and  he  pulled  from  his  pocket  several 
flat  masses  that  looked  like  pieces  of  yellow 
sponge.  "  This  is  pure  gold.  All  the  quick 
has  gone  off,  and  this  is  the  real  stuff,  just  as 
good  as  money.  An  ounce  will  buy  sixteen  dol- 
lars' worth  of  anything  in  Nome." 

"  It  looks  mighty  pretty,"  said  Ted.  "  Seems 
to  me  it's  redder  than  any  gold  I  ever  saw." 

11  It  is,"  said  his  father.  "  Nome  beach  gold 
is  redder  and  brighter  than  any  other  Alaskan 
gold.  I  guess  I'll  have  to  get  you  each  a  piece 
for  a  souvenir,"  and  both  boys  were  made  happy 


In  the  Gold  Country  117 

by  the  present  of  a  quaintly  shaped  nugget, 
bought  by  Mr.  Strong  from  the  very  miner  who 
had  mined  it,  which  of  course  added  to  its  value. 

"  You're  gathering  quite  a  lot  of  souvenirs, 
Ted,"  said  his  father.  "  It's  a  great  relief  that 
you  have  not  asked  me  for  anything  alive  yet. 
I  have  been  expecting  a  modest  request  for  a 
Malamute  or  a  Husky  pup,  or  perhaps  a  pet 
reindeer  to  take  home,  but  so  far  you  have  been 
quite  moderate  in  your  demands." 

"  Kalitan  never  asks  for  anything,"  said  Ted. 
"  I  asked  him  once  why  it  was,  and  he  said  In- 
dian boys  never  got  what  they  asked  for;  that 
sometimes  they  had  things  given  to  them  that 
they  hadn't  asked  for,  but,  if  he  asked  the  Tyee 
for  anything,  all  he  got  was  l  Good  Indian  get 
things  for  himself,'  and  he  had  to  go  to  work 
to  get  the  thing  he  wanted.  I  guess  it's  a  pretty 
good  plan,  too,  for  I  notice  that  I  get  just  as 
much  as  I  did  when  I  used  to  tease  you  for 
things,"  Teddy  added,  sagely. 


Ii8         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  Wise  boy,"  said  his  father.  "  You're  cer- 
tainly more  agreeable  to  live  with.  The  next 
thing  you  are  to  have  is  a  visit  to  an  Esquimo 
village,  and,  if  I  can  find  some  of  the  Esquimo 
carvings,  you  shall  have  something  to  take  home 
to  mother.  Kalitan,  what  would  you  like  to 
remember  the  Esquimos  by?  " 

Kalitan  smiled  and  replied,  simply,  "  Muk- 
luks." 

"  What  are  mukluksf  "  demanded  Ted. 

"  Esquimo  moccasins,"  said  Mr.  Strong. 
"  Well,  you  shall  both  have  a  pair,  and  they 
are  rather  pretty  things,  too,  as  the  Esquimos 
make  them." 


CHAPTER    XI 

AFTERNOON   TEA    IN   AN    EGLU 

The  Esquimo  village  was  reached  across  the 
tundra,  and  Teddy  and  Kalitan  were  much  in- 
terested in  the  queer  houses.  Built  for  the  long 
winter  of  six  or  eight  months,  when  it  is  impos- 
sible to  do  anything  out-of-doors,  the  eglu 1 
seems  quite  comfortable  from  the  Esquimo 
point  of  view,  but  very  strange  to  their  Ameri- 
can cousins. 

"  I  thought  the  Esquimos  lived  in  snow 
houses,"  said  Ted,  as  they  looked  at  the  queer 
little  huts,  and  Kalitan  exclaimed: 

"  Huh!    Innuit  queer  Indian!  " 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Strong;    "his  hut  is  built 

1  The  eglu  is  the  Esquimo  house.  Often  they  occupy 
tents  during  the  summer,  but  return  to  the  huts  the  first 
cool  nights. 

119 


120         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

by  digging  a  hole  about  six  feet  deep  and  stand- 
ing logs  up  side  by  side  around  the  hole.  On 
the  top  of  these  are  placed  logs  which  rest  even 
with  the  ground.  Stringers  are  put  across  these, 
and  other  logs  and  moss  and  mud  roofed  over 
it,  leaving  an  opening  in  the  middle  about  two 
feet  square.  This  is  covered  with  a  piece  of 
walrus  entrail  so  thin  and  transparent  that  light 
easily  passes  through  it,  and  it  serves  as  a  win- 
dow, the  only  one  they  have.  A  smoke-hole  is 
cut  through  the  roof,  but  there  is  no  door,  for 
the  hut  is  entered  through  another  room  built 
in  the  same  way,  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  distant, 
and  connected  by  an  underground  passage  about 
two  feet  square  with  the  main  room.  The  en- 
trance-room is  entered  through  a  hole  in  the 
roof,  from  which  a  ladder  reaches  the  bottom 
of  the  passage." 

"  Can  we  go  into  a  hut?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  I'll  ask  that  woman  cooking  over  there," 
said  Mr.  Strong,  as  they  went  up  to  a  woman 


Afternoon  Tea  in  an  Eglu       121 

who  was  cooking  over  a  peat  fire,  holding  over 
the  coals  an  old  battered  skillet  in  which  she 
was  frying  fish.  She  nodded  and  smiled  at  the 
boys,  and,  as  Esquimos  are  always  friendly  and 
hospitable  souls,  told  them  to  go  right  into  her 
sglu,  which  was  close  by. 

They  climbed  down  the  ladder,  crawled 
along  the  narrow  passage  to  where  a  skin  hung 
before  an  opening,  and,  pushing  it  aside,  entered 
the  living-room.  Here  they  found  an  old  man 
busily  engaged  in  carving  a  walrus  tooth,  an- 
other sewing  mukluks,  while  a  girl  was  singing 
a  quaint  lullaby  to  a  child  of  two  in  the  corner. 

The  young  girl  rose,  and,  putting  the  baby 
down  on  a  pile  of  skins,  spoke  to  them  in  good 
English,  saying  quietly: 

11  You  are  welcome.     I  am  Alalik." 

"  May  we  see  your  wares  ?  We  wish  to  buy," 
said  Mr.  Strong,  courteously. 

"  You  may  see,  whether  you  buy  or  not,"  she 
said,  with  a  smile,  which  showed  a  mouth  full 


122         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

of  even  white  teeth,  and  she  spread  out  before 
them  a  collection  of  Esquimo  goods.  There 
were  all  kinds  of  carvings  from  walrus  tusks, 
grass  baskets,  moccasins  of  walrus  hide,  stone 
bowls  and  cups,  parkas  made  of  reindeer  skin, 
and  one  superb  one  of  bird  feathers,  ramleikas, 
and  all  manner  of  carved  trinkets,  the  most 
charming  of  which,  to  Ted's  eyes,  being  a  tiny 
oomiak  with  an  Esquimo  in  it,  made  to  be  used 
as  a  breast-pin.  This  he  bought  for  his  mother, 
and  a  carving  of  a  baby  for  Judith;  while  his 
father  made  him  and  Kalitan  happy  with  pres- 
ents. 

"  Where  did  you  learn  such  English?  "  asked 
Mr.  Strong  of  Alalik,  wondering,  too,  where 
she  learned  her  pretty,  modest  ways,  for  Es- 
quimo women  are  commonly  free  and  easy. 

"  I  was  for  two  years  at  the  Mission  at  Holy 
Cross,"  she  said.  "  There  I  learned  much  that 
was  good.  Then  my  mother  died,  and  I  came 
home." 


Afternoon  Tea  in  an  Eglu       123 

She  spoke  simply,  and  Mr.  Strong  wondered 
what  would  be  the  fate  of  this  sweet-faced  girl. 

"  Did  you  learn  to  sew  from  the  sisters?" 
asked  Ted,  who  had  been  looking  at  the  gar- 
ments she  had  made,  in  which  the  stitches, 
though  made  in  skins  and  sewn  with  deer  sinew, 
were  as  even  as  though  done  with  a  machine. 

Kl  Oh,  no,"  she  said.  "  We  learn  that  at 
home.  When  I  was  no  larger  than  Zaksriner 
there,  my  mother  taught  me  to  braid  thread 
from  deer  and  whale  sinew,  and  we  must  sew 
very  much  in  winter  if  we  have  anything  to  sell 
when  summer  comes.  It  is  very  hard  to  get 
enough  to  live.  Since  the  Boston  men  come, 
our  people  waste  the  summer  in  idleness,  so 
we  have  nothing  stored  for  the  winter's  food. 
Hundreds  die  and  many  sicknesses  come  upon 
us.  In  the  village  where  my  people  lived,  in 
each  house  lay  the  dead  of  what  the  Boston 
men  called  measles,  and  there  were  not  left 
enough  living  to  bury  the  dead.     Only  we  es 


124         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

caped,  and  a  Black  Gown  came  from  the  Mis- 
sion to  help,  and  he  took  me  and  Antisarlook, 
my  brother,  to  the  school.  The  rest  came  here, 
where  we  live  very  well  because  there  are  in  the 
summer,  people  who  buy  what  we  make  in  the 
winter." 

"  How  do  you  get  your  skins  so  soft?  "  asked 
Ted,  feeling  the  exquisite  texture  of  a  bag  she 
had  just  finished.  It  was  a  beautiful  bit  of 
work,  a  tobacco-pouch  or  "  Tee-rum-i-ute," 
made  of  reindeer  skin,  decorated  with  beads  and 
the  soft  creamy  fur  of  the  ermine  in  its  summer 
hue. 

"  We  scrape  it  a  very  long  time  and  pull  and 
rub,"  she  said.  "  Plenty  of  time  for  patience 
in  winter." 

"  Your  hands  are  too  small  and  slim.  I 
shouldn't  think  you  could  do  much  with  those 
stiff  skins,"  said  Teddy. 

Alalik  smiled  at  the  compliment,  and  a  little 
flush  crept  into  the  clear  olive  of  her  skin.    She 


Afternoon  Tea  in  an  Eglu        125 

was  clean  and  neat,  and  the  eglu,  though  close 
from  being  shut  up,  was  neater  than  most  of  the 
Esquimo  houses.  The  bowl  filled  with  seal  oil, 
which  served  as  fire  and  light,  was  unlighted, 
and  Alalik's  father  motioned  to  her  and  said 
something  in  Innuit,  to  which  she  smilingly 
replied : 

"  My  father  wishes  you  to  eat  with  us,"  she 
said,  and  produced  her  flint  bag.  In  this  were 
some  wads  of  fibrous  material  used  for  wicks. 
Rolling  a  piece  of  this  in  wood  ashes,  she  held 
it  between  her  thumb  and  a  flint,  struck  her 
steel  against  the  stone,  and  sparks  flew  out 
which  lighted  the  fibre  so  that  it  burst  into 
flame.  This  was  thrown  into  the  bowl  of  oil, 
and  she  deftly  began  preparing  tea.  She  served 
it  in  cups  of  grass,  and  Ted  thought  he  had 
never  tasted  anything  nicer  than  the  cup  of 
afternoon  tea  served  in  an  eglu. 

"  Alalik,  what  were  you  singing  as  we  came 
in?  "  asked  Ted. 


126         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  A  song  my  mother  always  sang  to  us,"  she 
replied.  "  It  is  called  '  Ahmi,'  and  is  an  Es- 
quimo  slumber  song." 

"  Will  you  sing  it  now?  "  asked  Mr.  Strong, 
and  she  smiled  in  assent  and  sang  the  quaint, 
crooning  lullaby  of  her  Esquimo  mother  — 

"  The  wind  blows  over  the  Yukon. 

My  husband  hunts  the  deer  on  the  Koyukun  Mountains, 

Ahmi,  Ahmi,  sleep,  little  one,  wake  not. 

Long  since  my  husband  departed.     Why  does  he  wait  in  the 

mountains  ? 
Ahmi,  Ahmi,  sleep,  little  one,  softly. 
Where  is  my  own  ? 

Does  he  lie  starving  on  the  hillside  ?     Why  does  he  linger  ? 
Comes  he  not  soon,  I  will  seek  him  among  the  mountains. 
Ahmi,  Ahmi,  sleep,  little  one,  sleep. 
The  crow  has  come  laughing. 
His  beak  is  red,  his  eyes  glisten,  the  false  one. 
*  Thanks  for  a  good  meal  to  Kuskokala  the  Shaman. 
On  the  sharp  mountain  quietly  lies  your  husband.' 
Ahmi,  Ahmi,  sleep,  little  one,  wake  not. 
'  Twenty  deers'  tongues  tied  to  the  pack  on  his  shoulders; 
Not  a  tongue  in  his  mouth  to  call  to  his  wife  with, 
Wolves,  foxes,  and  ravens  are  fighting  for  morsels. 
Tough  and  hard  are  the  sinews,  not  so  the  child  in  youi 

bosom.' 


Afternoon  Tea  in  an  Eglu        127 

Ahmi,  Ahmi,  sleep,  little  one,  wake  not. 

Over  the  mountains  slowly  staggers  the  hunter. 

Two  bucks'   thighs  on   his  shoulders   with  bladders   of  fat 

between  them. 
Twenty  deers'  tongues  in   his  belt.      Go,  gather  wood,  old 

woman ! 
Off  flew  the  crow,  liar,  cheat,  and  deceiver  ! 
Wake,  little  sleeper,  and  call  to  your  father. 
He  brings  you  back  fat,  marrow  and  venison  fresh  from  the 

mountain. 
Tired  and  worn,  he  has  carved  a  toy  of  the  deer's  horn, 
While  he  was  sitting  and  waiting  long  for  the  deer  on  the 

hillside. 
Wake,  and  see  the  crow  hiding  himself  from  the  arrow, 
Wake,  little  one,  wake,  for  here  is  your  father." 

Thanking  Alalik  for  the  quaint  song,  sung 
in  a  sweet,  touching  voice,  they  all  took  their 
departure,  laden  with  purchases  and  delighted 
with  their  visit. 

"  But  you  must  not  think  this  is  a  fair  sample 
of  Esquimo  hut  or  Esquimo  life,"  said  Mr. 
Strong  to  the  boys.  "  These  are  near  enough 
civilized  to  show  the  best  side  of  their  race,  but 
theirs  must  be  a  terrible  existence  who  are  in- 


128         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

land  or  on  islands  where  no  one  ever  comes, 
and  whose  only  idea  of  life  is  a  constant  strug- 
gle for  food." 

"  I  think  I  would  rather  be  an  American," 
remarked  Ted,  while  Kalitan  said,  briefly: 

"  I  like  Thlinkit." 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    SPLENDOUR   OF   SAGHALIE   TYEE 

The  tundra  was  greenish-brown  in  colour, 
and  looked  like  a  great  meadow  stretching  From 
the  beach,  like  a  new  moon,  gently  upward  to 
the  cones  of  volcanic  mountains  far  away. 

The  ground,  frozen  solid  all  the  year,  thaws 
out  for  a  foot  or  two  on  the  surface  during  the 
warm  months,  and  here  and  there  were  scattered 
wild  flowers;  spring  beauties,  purple  primroses, 
yellow  anemone,  and  saxifrages  bloomed  in 
beauty,  and  wild  honey-bees,  gay  bumblebees, 
and  fat  mosquitoes  buzzed  and  hummed  every- 
where. 

Ted  and  Kalitan  were  going  to  see  the  rein- 
deer farm  at  Port  Clarence,  and,  as  this  was 

to  be  their  last  jaunt  in  Alaska,  they  were  deter- 
129 


130         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

mined  to  make  the  best  of  it.  Next  day  they 
were  to  take  ship  from  Cape  Prince  of  Wales 
and  go  straight  to  Sitka.  Here  Ted  was  to 
start  for  home,  and  Mr.  Strong  was  to  leave 
Kalitan  at  the  Mission  School  for  a  year's 
schooling,  which,  to  Kalitan's  great  delight,  was 
to  be  a  present  to  him  from  his  American 
friends. 

"  Tell  us  about  the  reindeer  farms,  daddy. 
Have  they  always  been  here?  "  demanded  Ted, 
as  they  tramped  over  the  tundra,  covered  with 
moss,  grass,  and  flowers. 

"  No,"  said  his  father.  "  They  are  quite 
recent  arrivals  in  Alaska.  The  Esquimos  used 
to  live  entirely  upon  the  game  they  killed  before 
the  whites  came.  There  were  many  walruses, 
which  they  used  for  many  things;  whales,  too, 
they  could  easily  capture  before  the  whalers 
drove  them  north,  and  then  they  hunted  the 
wild  reindeer,  until  now  there  are  scarcely  any 
left.    There  was  little  left  for  them  to  eat  but 


Splendour  of  Saghalie  Tyee      131 

small  fish,  for  you  see  the  whites  had  taken  away 
or  destroyed  their  food  supplies. 

11  One  day,  in  1891,  an  American  vessel  dis- 
covered an  entire  village  of  Esquimos  starving, 
being  reduced  to  eating  their  dogs,  and  it  was 
thought  quite  time  that  the  government  did 
something  for  these  people  whose  land  they  had 
bought.  Finding  that  people  of  the  same  race 
in  Siberia  were  prosperous  and  healthy,  they 
sent  to  investigate  conditions,  and  found  that 
the  Siberian  Esquimos  lived  entirely  by  means 
of  the  reindeer.  The  government  decided  to 
start  a  reindeer  farm  and  see  if  it  would  not 
benefit  the  natives." 

11  How  does  it  work?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Very  well,  indeed,"  said  his  father.  "  At 
first  about  two  hundred  animals  were  brought 
over,  and  they  increased  about  fifty  per  cent, 
the  first  year.  Everywhere  in  the  arctic  region 
the  tundra  gives  the  reindeer  the  moss  he  lives 
on.    It  is  never  dry  in  summer  because  the  frost 


132         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

prevents  any  underground  drainage,  and  even 
in  winter  the  animals  feed  upon  it  and  thrive. 
There  are,  it  is  said,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
square  miles  of  reindeer  moss  in  Alaska,  and 
reindeer  stations  have  been  established  in  many 
places,  and,  as  the  natives  are  the  only  ones 
allowed  to  raise  them,  it  seems  as  if  this  might 
be  the  way  found  to  help  the  industrious  Es- 
quimos  to  help  themselves." 

"  But  if  it  all  belongs  to  the  government, 
how  can  it  help  the  natives?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Of  course  they  have  to  be  taught  the  busi- 
ness," said  Mr.  Strong.  "  The  government 
brought  over  some  Lapps  and  Finlanders  to 
care  for  the  deer  at  first,  and  these  took  young 
Esquimos  to  train.  Each  one  serves  five  years 
as  herder,  having  a  certain  number  of  deer  set 
apart  for  him  each  year,  and  at  the  end  of  his 
service  goes  into  business  for  himself." 

"  Why,  I  think  that's  fine,"  cried  Ted.  "  Oh, 
Daddy,  what  is  that?     It  looks  like  a  queer, 


Splendour  of  Saghalie  Tyee       133 
tangled  up  forest,  all  bare  branches  in  the  sum- 


mer." 


"  That's  a  reindeer  herd  lying  down  for  their 
noonday  rest.  What  you  see  are  their  antlers. 
How  would  you  like  to  be  in  the  midst  of  that 
forest  of  branches?  "  asked  Mr.  Strong. 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Teddy,  but  Kalitan 
said: 

"  Reindeer  very  gentle ;  they  will  not  hurt 
unless  very  much  frightened." 

"  What  queer-looking  animals  they  are,"  said 
Ted,  as  they  approached  nearer.  "  A  sort  of  a 
cross  between  a  deer  and  a  cow." 

"  Perhaps  they  are  more  useful  than  hand- 
some, but  I  think  there  is  something  picturesque 
about  them,  especially  when  hitched  to  sleds 
and  skimming  over  the  frozen  ground." 

The  farm  at  Teller  was  certainly  an  interest- 
ing spot.  Teddy  saw  the  deer  fed  and  milked, 
the  Lapland  women  being  experts  in  that  line, 
and  found  the  herders,  in  their  quaint  parkas 


134         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

tied  around  the  waist,  and  conical  caps,  scarcely 
less  interesting  than  the  deer.  Two  funny  little 
Lapp  babies  he  took  to  ride  on  a  large  reindeer, 
which  proceeding  did  not  frighten  the  babies 
half  so  much  as  did  the  white  boy  who  put  them 
on  the  deer.  A  reindeer  was  to  them  an  every- 
day occurrence,  but  a  Boston  boy  was  quite  an- 
other matter. 

Better  than  the  reindeer,  however,  Teddy 
and  Kalitan  liked  the  draught  dogs  who  hauled 
the  water  at  the  station.  A  great  cask  on 
wheels  was  pulled  by  five  magnificent  dogs, 
beautiful  fellows  with  bright  alert  faces. 

"  They  are  the  most  faithful  creatures  in 
the  world,"  said  Mr.  Strong,  "  devoted  to  their 
masters,  even  though  the  masters  are  cruel  to 
them.  Reindeer  can  work  all  day  without  a 
mouthful  to  eat,  living  on  one  meal  at  night  of 
seven  pounds  of  corn-meal  mush,  with  a  pound 
or  so  of  dried  fish  cooked  into  it.  On  long  jour- 
neys they  can  live  on  dried  fish  and  snow,  and 


"TWO     FUNNY    LITTLE     LAPP     BABIES     HE    TOOK    TO     RIDE     ON     A 
LARGE    REINDEER." 


Splendour  of  Saghalie  Tyee       135 

five  dogs  will  haul  four  hundred  pounds  thirty- 
five  miles  a  day.  They  carry  the  United  States 
mails  all  over  Alaska." 

"  I  should  think  the  dog  would  be  worth 
more  than  the  reindeer,"  said  Ted. 

"  Many  Alaskan  travellers  say  he  is  by  far 
the  best  for  travelling,  but  he  cannot  feed  him- 
self on  the  tundra,  nor  can  he  be  eaten  him- 
self if  necessary.  The  Jarvis  expedition  proved 
the  value  of  the  reindeer,"  said  Mr.  Strong. 

"  What  was  that?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Some  years  ago  a  whale  fleet  was  caught 
in  the  ice  near  Point  Barrow,  and  in  danger 
of  starving  to  death,  and  word  of  this  was  sent 
to  the  government.  The  President  ordered  the 
revenue  cutter  Bear  to  go  as  far  north  as  possi- 
ble and  send  a  relief  party  over  the  ice  by  sledge 
with  provisions. 

"  When  the  Bear  could  go  no  farther,  her 
commander  landed  Lieutenant  Jarvis,  who  was 
familiar  with  the   region,   and   a    relief  party. 


136         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

They  were  to  seek  the  nearest  reindeer  station 
and  drive  a  reindeer  herd  to  the  relief  of  the 
starving  people.  The  party  reached  Cape 
Nome  and  secured  some  deer,  and  the  rescue 
was  made,  but  under  such  difficulties  that  it  is 
one  of  the  most  heroic  stories  of  the  age. 
These  men  drove  four  hundred  reindeer  over 
two  thousand  miles  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle, 
over  frozen  seas  and  snow-covered  mountains, 
and  found  the  starving  sailors,  who  ate  the 
fresh  reindeer  meat,  which  lasted  until  the  ice 
melted  in  the  spring  and  set  them  free.', 

"  I  think  that  was  fine,"  said  Ted.  "  But  it 
seems  a  little  hard  on  the  reindeer,  doesn't  it, 
to  tramp  all  that  distance  just  to  be  eaten?" 

"  Animals    made    for    man,"    said    Kalitan, 

briefly, 

*  *  * 

A  golden  glory  filled  the  sky,  running  up- 
wards toward  the  zenith,  spreading  there  in 
varying  colours   from  palest  yellow  to  orange 


Splendour  of  Saghalie  Tyee      137 

and  deepest,  richest  red.  Glowing  streams  of 
light  streamed  heavenward  like  feathery  wings, 
as  Ted  and  Kalitan  sailed  southward,  and  Ted 
exclaimed  in  wonder:    "  What  is  it?  " 

"  The  splendour  of  Saghalie  Tyee"  1  said 
Kalitan,  solemnly. 

"  The  Aurora  Borealis,"  said  Mr.  Strong, 
"  and  very  fortunate  you  are  to  see  it.  Indeed, 
Teddy,  you  seem  to  have  brought  good  luck, 
for  everything  has  gone  well  this  trip.  Our 
faces  are  turned  homeward  now,  but  we  will 
have  to  come  again  next  summer  and  bring 
mother  and  Judith." 

"  I'll  be  glad  to  get  home  to  mother  again," 
said  Ted,  then  noting  Kalitan's  wistful  face, 
11  We'll  find  you  at  Sitka  and  go  home  with  you 
to  the  island,"  and  he  put  his  arm  affectionately 
over  the  Indian  boy's  shoulder.  Kalitan  pointed 
to  the  sky,  whence  the  splendour  was  fading, 
and  a  flock  of  birds  was  skimming  southwards. 
1  Way-up  High  Chief,  i.e.,  God. 


138         Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

"  From  the  sky  fades  the  splendour  of  Sa- 
ghalie  Tyee,"  he  said.  "  The  summer  is  gone, 
the  birds  fly  southward.  The  light  goes  from 
me  when  my  White  Brother  goes  with  the  birds. 
Unless  he  return  with  them,  all  is  dark  for 
Kalitan!" 


THE    END. 


THE  LITTLE  COUSIN  SERIES 


The  most  delightful  and  interesting  accounts  possible 
of  child  life  in  other  lands,  filled  with  quaint  sayings, 
doings,  and  adventures. 

Each  one  vol.,  1 2mo,  decorative  cover,  cloth,  with  six  or  more 
full-page  illustrations  in  color. 

Price  per  volume #0.60 

By     MARY     HAZELTON      WADE     {unless     otherwise 
indicated) 


Our  Little  African  Cousin 

Our  Little  Alaskan  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon  -  Roulet 

Our  Little  Arabian  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Armenian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Brown  Cousin 

Our  Little  Canadian  Cousin 

By  Elizabeth  R.  Macdonald 

Our  Little  Chinese  Cousin 

By  Isaac  Taylor  Headland 

Our  Little  Cuban  Cousin 

Our  Little  Dutch  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  English  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Eskimo  Cousin 

Our  Little  French  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  German  Cousin 
Our  Little  Hawaiian  Cousin 

Our  Little  Hindu  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Indian  Cousin 


Our  Little  Irish  Cousin 
Our  Little  Italian  Cousin 
Our  Little  Japanese  Cousin 
Our  Little  Jewish  Cousin 

Our  Little  Korean  Cousin 

By  H.  Lee  M.  Pike 

Our  Little  Mexican  Cousin 

By  Edward  C.  Butler 

Our  Little  Norwegian  Cousin 

Our  Little  Panama  Cousin 

By  H.  Lee  M.  Pike 

Our  Little  Philippine  Cousin 
Our  Little  Porto  Rican  Cousin 
Our  Little  Russian  Cousin 

Our  Little  Scotch  Cousin 

By  Blanche  McManus 

Our  Little  Siamese  Cousin 

Our  Little  Spanish  Cousin 

By  Mary  F.  Nixon -Roulet 

Our  Little  Swedish  Cousin 

By  Claire  M.  Coburn 

Our  Little  Swiss  Cousin 
Our  Little  Turkish  Cousin 


THE  GOLDENROD  LIBRARY 

The  Goldenrod  Library  contains  stories  which  appeal 
alike  both  to  children  and  to  their  parents  and  guardians. 

Each  volume  is  well  illustrated  from  drawings  by 
competent  artists,  which,  together  with  their  handsomely 
decorated  uniform  binding,  showing  the  goldenrod, 
usually  considered  the  emblem  of  America,  is  a  feature 
of  their  manufacture. 

Each  one  volume,  small  1 2mo,  illustrated        .        .    $0.35 


LIST  OF  TITLES 

Aunt  Nabby's  Children.     By  Frances  Hodges  Whitf 

Child's  Dream  of  a  Star,  The.    By  Charles  Dickens. 

Flight  of  Rosy  Dawn,  The.     By  Pauline  Bradford  Mackie, 

Findelkind.     By  Ouida. 

Fairy  of  the  Rhone,  The.    By  A.  Comyns  Carr. 

Gatty  and  I.     By  Frances  E.  Crompton. 

Helena's  Wonderworld.     By  Frances  Hodges  White. 

Jerry's  Reward.     By  Evelyn  Snead  Barnett. 

La  Belle  Nivernaise.     By  Alphonse  Daudet. 

Little  King  Davie.    By  Nellie  Hellis. 

Little  Peterkin  Vandike.     By  Charles  Stuart  Pratt. 

Little  Professor,  The.     By  Ida  Horton  Cash. 

Peggy's  Trial.     By  Mary  Knight  Potter. 

iprince  Yellowtop.     By  Kate  Whiting  Patch. 

Provence  Rose,  A.     By  Ouida. 

Seventh  Daughter,  A.     By  Grace  Wickham  Curran. 

Sleeping  Beauty,  The.     By  Martha  Baker  Dunn. 

Small,  Small  Child,  A.     By  E.  Livingston  Prescott 

Susanne.     By  Frances  J.  Delano. 

Water  People,  The.     By  Charles  Lee  Sleight. 

Young  Archer,  The.    By  Charles  E.  Brimblecom. 


COSY  CORNER  SERES 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  publishers  that  this  series  shall 
contain  only  the  very  highest  and  purest  literature, — 
stories  that  shall  not  only  appeal  to  the  children  them- 
selves, but  be  appreciated  by  all  those  who  feel  with 
them  in  their  joys  and  sorrows. 

The  numerous  illustrations  in  each  book  are  by  well- 
known  artists,  and  each  volume  has  a  separate  attrac- 
tive cover  design. 

Each  i  vol.,  i6mo,  cloth  ....         $0.50 

By  ANNIE  FELLOWS  JOHNSTON 

The  Little  Colonel.       (Trade  Mark.) 

The  scene  of  this  story  is  laid  in  Kentucky.  Its  hero- 
ine is  a  small  girl,  who  is  known  as  the  Little  Colonel, 
on  account  of  her  fancied  resemblance  to  an  old-school 
Southern  gentleman,  whose  fine  estate  and  old  family 
are  famous  in  the  region. 

The  Giant  Scissors. 

This  is  the  story  of  Joyce  and  of  her  adventures 
in  France.  Joyce  is  a  great  friend  of  the  Little  Colonel, 
and  in  later  volumes  shares  with  her  the  delightful  ex- 
periences of  the  "  House  Party  "  and  the  "  Holidays." 

Two  Little  Knights  of  Kentucky. 

Who  Were  the  Little  Colonel's  Neighbors. 

In  this  volume  the  Little  Colonel  returns  to  us  like  an 
old  friend,  but  with  added  grace  and  charm.  She  is 
not,  however,  the  central  figure  of  the  story,  that  place 
being  taken  by  the  "  two  little  knights." 

Mildred's  Inheritance. 

A  delightful  little  story  of  a  lonely  English  girl  who 
comes  to  America  and  is  befriended  by  a  sympathetic 
American  family  who  are  attracted  by  her  beautiful 
speaking  voice.  By  means  of  this  one  gift  she  is  en- 
abled to  help  a  school-girl  who  has  temporarily  lost  the 
use  of  her  eyes,  and  thus  finally  her  life  becomes  a  busy, 
happy  one. 


L.   C.  PAGE  AND   COMPANY 'S 

pi  ■ 

By  ANNIE  FELLOWS  JOHNSTON  (Continued) 

Cicely  and  Other  Stories  for  Girls. 

The  readers  of  Mrs.  Johnston's  charming  juvenile* 
will  be  glad  to  learn  of  the  issue  of  this  volume  fot 
young  people. 

Aunt  'Liza's  Hero  and  Other  Stories. 

A  collection  of  six  bright  little  stories,  which  will 
appeal  to  all  boys  and  most  girls. 

Big  Brother. 

A  story  of  two  boys.  The  devotion  and  care  of 
Steven,  himself  a  small  boy,  for  his  baby  brother,  is  the 
theme  of  the  simple  tale. 

Ole  Mammy's  Torment. 

"  Ole  Mammy's  Torment "  has  been  fitly  called  "  a 
classic  of  Southern  life."  It  relates  the  haps  and  mis- 
haps of  a  small  negro  lad,  and  tells  how  he  was  led  by 
love  and  kindness  to  a  knowledge  of  the  right. 

The  Story  of  Dago. 

In  this  story  Mrs.  Johnston  relates  the  story  of  Dago, 
a  pet  monkey,  owned  jointly  by  two  brcuiers.  Dago 
tells  his  own  story,  and  the  account  of  his  haps  and  mis- 
haps is  both  interesting  and  amusing. 

The  Quilt  That  Jack  Built. 

A  pleasant  little  story  of  a  boy's  labor  of  love,  and 
how  it  changed  the  course  of  his  life  many  years  after 
it  was  accomplished. 

Flip's  Islands  of  Providence. 

A  story  of  a  boy's  life  battle,  his  early  defeat,  and  h& 
fnal  triumph,  well  worth  the  reading* 


COSY  CORNER  SERIES 


By  EDITH  ROBINSON 

A  Little  Puritan's  First  Christmas. 

A  Story  of  Colonial  times  in  Boston,  telling  how 
Christmas  was  invented  by  Betty  Sewall,  a  typical  child 
of  the  Puritans,  aided  by  her  brother  Sam. 

A  Little  Daughter  of  Liberty. 

The  author  introduces  this  story  as  follows : 
"  One  ride  is  memorable  in  the  early  history  of  the 
American  Revolution,  the  well-known  ride  of  Paul 
Revere.  Equally  deserving  of  commendation  is  another 
ride,  —  the  ride  of  Anthony  Severn,  —  which  was  no  less 
historic  in  its  action  or  memorable  in  its  consequences." 

A  Loyal  Little  Maid. 

A  delightful  and  interesting  story  of  Revolutionary 
days,  in  which  the  child  heroine,  Betsey  Schuyler, 
renders  important  services  to  George  Washington. 

A  Little  Puritan  Rebel. 

This  is  an  historical  tale  of  a  real  girl,  during  the 
time  when  the  gallant  Sir  Harry  Vane  was  governor  of 
Massachusetts. 

A  Little  Puritan  Pioneer. 

The  scene  of  this  story  is  laid  in  the  Puritan  settle- 
ment at  Charlestown. 

A  Little  Puritan  Bound  QirK 

A  story  of  Boston  in  Puritan  days,  which  te  of  great 
interest  to  youthful  readers. 

A  Little  Puritan  Cavalier. 

The  story  of  a  "  Little  Puritan  Cavalier  "  who  tried 
with  all  his  boyish  enthusiasm  to  emulate  the  spirit  and 
ideals  of  the  dead  Crusaders. 

A  Puritan  Knight  Errant. 

The  story  tells  of  a  young  lad  in  Colonial  times  who 
endeavored  to  carry  out  the  high  ideals  of  the  knights 
of  olden  days. 


L.  C.  PAGE  AND  COMPANY'S 


By  OUIDA  {Louise  de  la  Ramie) 

A   Dog  Of   Flanders  :  A  Christmas  Story. 
Too  well  and  favorably  known  to  require  description. 

The  Nurnberg  Stove. 

This  beautiful  story  has  never  before  been  published 
at  a  popular  price. 

By  FRANCES  MARGARET  FOX 

The  Little  Giant's  Neighbours. 

A  charming  nature  story  of  a  "  little  giant "  whose 
neighbours  were  the  creatures  of  the  field  and  garden. 

Farmer  Brown  and  the  Birds. 

A  little  story  which  teaches  children  that  the  birds 
are  man's  best  friends. 

Betty  of  Old  Mackinaw. 

A  charming  story  of  child-life,  appealing  especially  to 
the  little  readers  who  like  stories  of  "real  people." 

Brother  Billy. 

The  story  of  Betty's  brother,  and  some  further  ad- 
ventures  of  Betty  herself. 

Mother  Nature's  Little  Ones. 

Curious  little  sketches  describing  the  early  lifetime, 
or  "  childhood,"  of  the  little  creatures  out-of-doors. 

How  Christmas  Came  to  the  Mul- 
vaneys. 

A  bright,  lifelike  little  story  of  a  family  of  poor  chil- 
dren, with  an  unlimited  capacity  for  fun  and  mischief. 
The  wonderful  never-to-be  forgotten  Christmas  that 
came  to  them  is  the  climax  of  a  series  of  exciting  inci- 
dents. 


COSY  CORNER  SERIES 


By  MISS  MULOCK 

The  Little  Lame  Prince. 

A  delightful  story  of  a  little  boy  who  has  many  ad- 
ventures by  means  of  the  magic  gifts  of  his  fairy  god- 
mother. 

Adventures  of  a  Brownie. 

The  story  of  a  household  elf  who  torments  the  cook 
and  gardener,  but  is  a  constant  joy  and  delight  to  the 
children  who  love  and  trust  him. 

His  Little  Mother. 

Miss  Mulock's  short  stories  for  children  are  a  constant 
source  of  delight  to  them,  and  "  His  Little  Mother,"  in 
this  new  and  attractive  dress,  will  be  welcomed  by  hosts 
of  youthful  readers. 

Little  Sunshine's  Holiday. 

An  attractive  story  of  a  summer  outing.  "  Little  Sun- 
shine "  is  another  of  those  beautiful  child-characters  for 
which  Miss  Mulock  is  so  justly  famous. 

By   MARSHALL    SAUNDERS 

For  His  Country. 

A  sweet  and  graceful  story  of  a  little  boy  who  loved 
his  country  ;  written  with  that  charm  which  has  endeared 
Miss  Saunders  to  hosts  of  readers. 

Nita,  the  Story  of  an  Irish  Setter. 

In  this  touching  little  book,  Miss  Saunders  shows  how 
dear  to  her  heart  are  all  of  God's  dumb  creatures. 

Alpatok,   the  Story  of  an    Eskimo 
Dog. 

Alpatok,  an  Eskimo  dog  from  the  far  north,  was  stolen 
from  his  master  and  left  to  starve  in  a  strange  city,  but 
was  befriended  and  cared  for,  until  he  was  able  to  re- 
turn to  his  owner. 


L.   C.  PAGE  AND   COMPANY'S 

m  ' 

By  WILL  ALLEN  DROMGOOLE 

The  Farrier's  Dog  and  His  Fellow. 

This  story,  written  by  the  gifted  young  Southern 
woman,  will  appeal  to  all  that  is  best  in  the  natures  of 
the  many  admirers  of  her  graceful  and  piquant  style. 

The  Fortunes  of  the  Fellow. 

Those  who  read  and  enjoyed  the  pathos  and  charm 
of  "  The  Farrier's  Dog  and  His  Fellow  "  will  welcome 
the  further  account  of  the  adventures  of  Baydaw  and 
the  Fellow  at  the  home  of  the  kindly  smith. 

The  Best  of  Friends. 

This  continues  the  experiences  of  the  Farrier's  dog  and 
his  Fellow,  written  in  Miss  Dromgoole's  well-known 
charming  style. 

Down  in  Dixie. 

A  fascinating  story  for  boys  and  girls,  of  a  family  of 
Alabama  children  who  move  to  Florida  and  grow  up  in 
the  South. 


By  MARIAN  W.  WILDMAN 

Loyalty  Island. 

An  account  of  the  adventures  of  four  children  and 
their  pet  dog  on  an  island,  and  how  they  cleared  their 
brother  from  the  suspicion  of  dishonesty. 

Theodore  and  Theodora. 

This  is  a  story  of  the  exploits  and  mishaps  of  two  mis- 
chievous twins,  and  continues  the  adventures  of  th« 
interesting  group  of  children  in  "  Loyalty  Island." 


COSY  CORNER  SERIES 


By  CHARLES  G.  D.  ROBERTS 

The  Cruise  of  the  Yacht  Dido. 

The  story  of  two  boys  who  turned  their  yacht  into  a 
fishing  boat  to  earn  money  to  pay  for  a  college  course, 
and  of  their  adventures  while  exploring  in  search  of 
hidden  treasure. 

The  Young  Acadian. 

The  story  of  a  young  lad  of  Acadia  who  rescued  a 
little  English  girl  from  the  hands  of  savages. 

The  Lord  of  the  Air. 

The  Story  of  the  Eagle 

The  King  of  the  Mamozekel. 

The  Story  of  the  Moose 

The  Watchers  of  the  Camp-fire. 

The  Story  of  the  Panther 

The  Haunter  of  the  Pine  Gloom. 

The  Story  of  the  Lynx 

The  Return  to  the  Trails. 

The  Story  of  the  Bear 

The  Little  People  of  the  Sycamore. 

The  Story  of  the  Raccoon 

By  OTHER  AUTHORS 

The  Great  Scoop. 

By  MOLL  Y  ELLIOT  SEA  WELL 

A  capital  tale  of  newspaper  life  in  a  big  city,  and 
of  a  bright,  enterprising,  likable  youngster  employed 
thereon. 

John  Whopper. 

The  late  Bishop  Clark's  popular  story  of  the  boy  who 
fell  through  the  earth  and  came  out  in  China,  with  a 
new  introduction  by  Bishop  Potter. 


L.   C.  PAGE  AND   COMPANY 


The  Dole  Twins. 

By  KATE  UPSON  CLARK 

The  adventures  of  two  little  people  who  tried  to  earn 
money  to  buy  crutches  for  a  lame  aunt.  An  excellent 
description  of  child-life  about  18 12,  which  will  greatly 
interest  and  amuse  the  children  of  to-day,  whose  life  is 
widely  different. 

Larry  Hudson's  Ambition. 

By  JAMES  OTIS,  author  of  "Toby Tyler,"  etc. 

Larry  Hudson  is  a  typical  American  boy,  whose  hard 
work  and  enterprise  gain  him  his  ambition,  —  an  educa- 
tion and  a  start  in  the  world. 

The  Little  Christmas  Shoe. 

By  JANE  P.  SCOTT  WOODRUFF 
A  touching  story  of  Yule-tide. 

Wee  Dorothy. 

By  LAURA   UPDEGRAFF 

A  story  of  two  orphan  children,  the  tender  devotion 
of  the  eldest,  a  boy,  for  his  sister  being  its  theme  and 
setting.  With  a  bit  of  sadness  at  the  beginning,  the 
story  is  otherwise  bright  and  sunny,  and  altogether 
wholesome  in  every  way. 

The  King  of  the  Golden   River:   a 

Legend  of  Stiria.     By  JOHN RUSK  IN 
Written  fifty  years  or  more   ago,  and  not  originally 
intended  for  publication,  this  little  fairy-tale  soon  be- 
came known  and  made  a  place  for  itself. 

A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses. 

By  L.  R.  STEVENSON 

Mr.  Stevenson's  little  volume  is  too  well  known  to 
need  description. 


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